Berea College welcomes the public and campus community to this week’s convocation featuring Dr. Julie Robinson, NASA Chief Scientist for the International Space Station (ISS). In this convocation, the Berea College Science Lecture, Dr. Robinson will highlight how the International Space Station is providing many beneficial discoveries across fields as diverse as astrophysics, nanomaterials, combustion, microbiology, and human physiology. Robinson also will explain how scientists and engineers can access the research ISS facility. This convocation is free and open to the public on Thursday, October 6, 2016, at 3:00 p.m. in Phelps Stokes Chapel on the Berea College campus.
Dr. Robinson earned a Bachelor’s of Science from Utah State University in Chemistry, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology from the University of Nevada Reno. She joined NASA’s ISS program in 2004, and became Chief Scientist in 2007.
The convocation events, which are provided free to both the campus and public communities, are a significant part of a student’s educational experience at Berea College. See https://legacy.berea.edu/convocations/ for the schedule of all convocations this academic year.
Berea College, the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, focuses on learning, labor and service. The College admits only academically promising students with limited financial resources, primarily from Kentucky and Appalachia, although students come from 40 states and 60 countries. Every Berea student receives a Tuition Promise Scholarship, which means no Berea student pays for tuition. Berea is one of eight federally recognized Work Colleges, so students work 10 hours or more weekly, earning money for books, housing, and meals. The College’s motto, “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth, (Acts 17:26)” speaks to its inclusive Christian character.