The Daniel Island Community Speaker’s Series will resume on Wednesday evening, September 28, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the ballroom at the Daniel Island Club.

The speaker will be Rachel Lindbergh who is a research associate for the Science and Technology Policy Institute which advises the White House about space policy. That means Rachel participates in meetings on topics such as a manned mission to Mars, the future of space nuclear power and propulsion, and threats associated with hypersonic flight. How cool is that?

Rachel’s journey will be of interest to all of us, but if you have kids that are thinking about what they want to do with the rest of their life, by all means, bring them. Rachel’s presentation may convince them that a STEM career is within their reach if they choose to go down that road.

Rachel spoke to our Rotary Club when she was in high school and was required to do a junior year science project. She and her teammates decided to investigate “tin whiskers”. These whiskers grow spontaneously on tin surfaces and have caused numerous electronic systems to fail both on earth and in space. Incredibly, their science projected was selected to be loaded onto the space shuttle and transported to the International Space Station. She and her excited teammates traveled to Florida to watch the launch. But, alas, the rocket exploded shortly after takeoff. They were given a second chance which suffered the same fate. The third try was the so-called charm. It worked and the astronauts on the space shuttle were finally able to carry out the students’ experiment.

As it turns out her high school science project was a life changing event. Rachel had never considered a STEM career. She thought she was more of a humanities kind of girl. But that exposure to science got her a full scholarship to the University of Chicago. She is now a space policy analyst working in Washington, D.C., and advising the White House. She bills herself as an ordinary kid who was given an extraordinary opportunity. This young lady is anything but ordinary

This event will be held on Wednesday evening, September 28, at the Daniel Island Club. There will be a cash bar and passed hors d’oeuvres between 6:30 and 7:00 pm. The program will begin promptly at 7:00 pm and will conclude around 8:00 pm.

Please click the link HERE to register.

This program, now in its tenth year, is sponsored jointly by The Rotary Club of Daniel Island, the Daniel Island Community Fund, the Daniel Island Business Association, and the Daniel Island Club.

For more information or questions, please contact Steve Slifer at steveslifer@outlook.com