Becky oskin biography

Outreach and internships

The vast night sky visible from the Choctaw Indian Reservation in Mississippi sparked Powtawche Valerino&#;s love of space.

&#;The stars were so vibrant.

Becky oskin biography

To me, it was just like another world,&#; she says. Valerino&#;s family moved to New Orleans when she was ten, and science outreach programs kept her interested and helped transform the budding astronomer into one of the few female engineers froma minority background in the US.

&#;Once my teachers knew I wanted to be a scientist, they started suggesting all these outside programs I could participate in,&#; she recalls.

&#;Almost every summer, I was busy at some kind of camp.&#; Open to all students, the camps focused on math or science and motivated Valerino to &#;stick with the hard topics&#;.

In the summer before her senior year in high school, Valerino interned with a mechanical engineer as part of NASA&#;s Summer High School Apprenticeship Research Program,