Adriana Ocampo, the Colombian scientist who won an important international award for her work at NASA

Adriana Ocampo He is currently the Director of Scientific Programs in the Directorate of Scientific Missions in the Arab Republic of Egypt a pota position that gave her the distinction of being one of the most important women in her field worldwide. And yes, she is also Colombian.

The geologist, born in Barranquilla 67 years ago, was due March 3rd from L.atin America Lifetime Awards, In its second edition, it paid tribute to the work done by different women in Latin America who excelled in various fields of art and science.

Ocampo Urea proudly expressed her happiness to have been recognized, not only for her contributions as a woman to society, but also to science. “I think thatScience is one of the elements that contribute to making our society very wealthy. For me, this wonderful, epic journey of space exploration began with a dream, like a girl dreaming on the roof of my house, with a puppy, dreaming of what those white dots were like, those bright dots in the heavenly vault,” said the geologist.

Likewise, she highlighted the role this profession plays in this tireless task of discovering ways and options to make this world a habitable planet for humanity, a species that, according to her, does best in the midst of loneliness, with a brief review of the achievements of the US space agency.

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“Our species was made to invent, invent, and explore. That is what we must learn. So when we explore other human surfaces, other planets, like the Moon or Mars, we’ll do it with a very diverse crew.‘, across the world, who also added that regardless of race, social status or space in the world, what is essential is the knowledge and level of preparedness that a person has, and this is one of the advantages of the fact that participating in space missions offers.

“From there, looking at our little blue dot, we realize this beautiful planet we live on, and we have to learn to preserve it,” said the Colombian who moved to Argentina in her early years and later, in his life. Adolescence, resides in the United States. She currently lives in Washington, DC, and from a young age dreamed of space travel.

Before finishing high school, Ocampo had his first contact with NASA thanks to volunteer work done at the Center of Excellence for Exploration of the Solar System. There, he finished convincing himself that he wanted to keep this love for the rest of his life. At the age of 17, the US agency offered her her first job as a technical assistant, and in 1983 she graduated as a biologist from California State University.. Subsequently, he completed his graduate degree in Planetary Geology at Northridge State University and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Amsterdam Vrije.

As a great feature within this agency, there is the discovery of the crater (named Chicxulub and found in Mexico) that caused the extinction of more than 50% of the planet’s species 66 million years ago, including the dinosaurs. In addition, he led several investigative missions that ended with valuable scientific contributions related to the transformations that the planet has undergone since its inception.

What is more, An asteroid bears his name in honor of the invaluable contributions to Science from his position as Director of Science Programs in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

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