I thought that NASA didn't take biologists and so nothing would come of it. But I knew I would regret it if I did not apply. Kathleen Rubins More Quotes by Kathleen Rubins More Quotes From Kathleen Rubins If you find something that you're excited about and you're interested in, my advice to young women and young men would be do what you're really interested in and what drives and motivates you. Kathleen Rubins you women advice men Most germs aren't bad. You're in a microbial environment all the time. Kathleen Rubins bad you environment time There's a world of insights to be gained into human health and disease by understanding how gravity and space radiation influence biology. Kathleen Rubins health space understanding world We're pretty interested in microbial communities on-board space stations. It's a closed-loop system. Our water is recycled; our air is recycled. Kathleen Rubins pretty space air water Folks should find what really inspires them; they should always pursue what they want to do. Kathleen Rubins find always pursue want Young people can accomplish a lot. Kathleen Rubins young-people accomplish young people They say that in space, nobody can hear you scream. The first time I stepped out of the airlock, I was ready to scream - not because I was scared but because I was so excited to see the Earth below me. Kathleen Rubins me you space time I think it's going to be amazing to see how the world of microbiology, molecular and cellular biology, and human physiology is massively changed by microgravity. Kathleen Rubins amazing think biology world I kind of watch anything on the Syfy channel. Kathleen Rubins channel watch anything kind I think it's reasonable: you can own your nerd credibility when you're an astronaut. Kathleen Rubins your own think you My lab used to do gene expression and genomics, and we did a lot of sequencing samples from virus outbreaks. Kathleen Rubins virus did used expression When I was in grad school, I wanted to be in academia forever. Kathleen Rubins academia forever wanted school When I was 16, my dad took me to a DNA conference at the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco, California, and I was captivated by this way of looking at biology and by the discussions of bits of nucleic acid that could make us sick. Kathleen Rubins looking me dad science As an undergraduate majoring in biology at the University of California, San Diego, I worked on infectious diseases at the nearby Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Kathleen Rubins studies university biology california I decided to do graduate studies in virology at Stanford University in California because it had a hospital, which made working on clinical applications easier. Kathleen Rubins hospital working because university Joining NASA was very exciting, but it was the hardest decision I have had to make in my life. Kathleen Rubins nasa my-life decision life There's actually an incredible amount of parallels between working in central Congo in a remote, isolated village and doing research aboard the space station. Kathleen Rubins doing village space research For long-duration exploration missions, NASA is looking for folks with a lot of operational, hands-on experience, people who have been in field-type situations such as military deployments. In my case, I worked in the Congo and in Biosafety Level 4 labs on smallpox. Kathleen Rubins looking experience military people You need nerves of steel if climbing aboard a rocket is your career path. Kathleen Rubins your need you path NASA trains you to assess emergency situations and react in a way to keep yourself and everyone else safe. Kathleen Rubins react yourself you way