Jessica Meir

Comparative physiology research

Meir earned a Ph.D. from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Her Ph.D. research involved the diving physiology of emperor penguins and northern elephant seals. Meir spent time in Antarctica at a site called Penguin Ranch furthering her research into the diving abilities of the emperor penguin, scuba diving alongside the penguins under the ice. She also studied elephant seals while they were diving in the Pacific Ocean off Northern California.

Meir's current research involves bar-headed geese, which are able to tolerate extreme altitudes and low oxygen levels while flying over the Himalayas.

NASA career

Meir worked for three years at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. She worked for Lockheed Martin Space Operations as an experiment support scientist for the Human Research Facility at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). Meir coordinated and supported human space life science experiments that were performed by astronauts on space shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) missions. These experiments included physiological studies (bone loss, muscle control/atrophy, lung function, etc.) to determine if any bodily processes were altered in the spaceflight environment. Meir guided these experiments through the necessary review cycles, developed procedures that the astronauts would use on-orbit, trained crew members, and provided ground support in the Mission Control Center while the astronauts were performing the experiments on the shuttle or ISS.

In September 2002, Meir served as an aquanaut on the joint NASA-NOAA NEEMO 4 expedition (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations), an exploration research mission held in Aquarius, the world's only undersea research laboratory, four miles off shore from Key Largo. Meir and her crewmates spent five days saturation diving from the Aquarius habitat as a space analogue for working and training under extreme environmental conditions. The mission was delayed due to Hurricane Isadore, forcing National Undersea Research Center managers to shorten it to an underwater duration of five days. Then, three days into their underwater mission, the crew members were told that Tropical Storm Lili was headed in their direction and to prepare for an early departure from Aquarius. Fortunately, Lili degenerated to the point where it was no longer a threat, so the crew was able to remain the full five days.

At the time of NEEMO 4, Meir was leaning toward pursuing a PhD in a field related to evolutionary biology and/or life in extreme environments (astrobiology). She was also fascinated by marine biology (which suited the NEEMO mission well), and hoped to coordinate a specific topic of study to combine these main interests. She received her PhD in marine biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, studying diving physiology, in 2009. She continues to study the physiology of animals in extreme environments.

In 2009, Meir was a semi-finalist for selection as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 20. For the following selection, on June 17, 2013, Meir was named as a candidate for astronaut training by NASA, becoming one of the eight members of NASA Astronaut Group 21. She completed training in July 2015.

Meir is a member of the science advisory board of Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation.

Awards

Meir has received numerous awards including the Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO) Scholar Award (2008); Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Fellowship (2006), the Lockheed Martin Space Operations (LMSO) Special Recognition Award (2002) the NASA JSC Space and Life Sciences Directorate Special Professional Achievement Award (2002) and the Lockheed Martin Technology Services “Lightning Award” (2002).