Space anthropologist. Space psychologist. Space lawyer.

From economics to communications to public policy, liberal arts majors are critical to the space industry. They negotiate treaties on space mining. They design experiments for analog astronauts on Earth to simulate the environment of long-duration missions to Mars. They work at one of the now thousands of private space companies on communicating the benefit of space to the general public or government.

Space isn't just for STEM majors; the space industry requires a holistic workforce to deal with the world's most challenging problems, from using space to monitor issues such as climate change, conflict, and disease, to getting humans to Mars.

Presenter Bio:

Therese Jones is the Senior Director of Policy at the Satellite Industry Association, a U.S.-based trade association representing over 50 satellite operators, manufacturers, ground equipment suppliers, and launch companies. In this position, Therese manages SIA working groups on regulatory, legislative, defense, space safety, cybersecurity, remote sensing, and export control-related issues. Prior to SIA, Therese was an assistant policy researcher at RAND Corporation, working on space policy issues for a wide variety of government organizations. Therese is a Ph.D. candidate in policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Therese received a master's in astrophysics at UC Berkeley, and bachelor's degrees in astronomy and astrophysics, physics, German, and international studies from Penn State University.

This event is presented by the Liberal Arts Career Enrichment Network. If you have any questions, please contact lanetwork@psu.edu or 814-865-1070.