Investigating Space: Celebrating Women in STEM 

Saturday, June 10
10 a.m.- 2 p.m.
Free With General Admission

Join us at Chabot Space & Science Center on June 10 for a day highlighting Women in STEM! Celebrate the accomplishments women have made in science, technology, engineering and math and our future generation of female scientists.

Take part in hands-on science demos throughout the museum with the Center’s youth volunteers, the Galaxy Explorers. Then join a panel of local female scientists as they discuss their journeys to a career in STEM and their experiences in their chosen fields. Then, hear from NASA scientists and engineer, Dr. Swati Mohan in a short talk in the afternoon. Throughout the event, Lauren McKeegan will have a replica Mars rover on display that she built herself!

Bring your curiosity to Chabot and spend the day with current and future scientists! 

Galaxy Explorer Demos  

Throughout the Center 

10:00am – 2:00pm 

Discover something new with our teen volunteers as they present exciting science-based activities for all ages! Head to the courtyard, rotunda and other areas of the Center to see all the different demonstrations offered.  

CJ the Rover with Laura McKeegan 

Studio 1 

10:00am – 2:00pm 

Local builder, Laura McKeegan, will be in Studio 1 with her remote-controlled Mars Rover replica, called “Curiosity Junior,” she built from 3D printed parts. Stop by to see it in action and to ask the builder about creating the rover! 

Meet a Local Scientist Panel 

Theatre 

11:00am – 12:00pm 

Join moderator, and Chabot Educator, Jenna Lowe as she hosts a panel of local women and non-binary people currently studying or working in a STEM. Learn more about what inspired them to pursue a STEM career and advice they have for the next generation of scientists. Panel members include Sophia Risin an undergraduate physics student at UC Berkeley, Satya Gontcho A Gontcho a Project Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Leslie Guandique a Sr. Supervisor in Launch Product Development at Astra, and a former student and volunteer with Scientific Adventures for Girls.  

Engineering at NASA with Dr. Swati Mohan 

Theatre 

1:00pm – 2:00pm 

Dr. Swati Mohan joined NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory first in 2004, after completing her B.S from Cornell University in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. After working as a systems engineer on Cassini during Saturn Orbit Insertion and Huygens Probe release, she returned to graduate school in 2005 to MIT. Dr. Mohan received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Aeronautics/Astronautics from the MIT Space Systems Laboratory. Since her return to JPL in 2010, Dr. Mohan has worked on multiple missions such as GRAIL and OCO-3. For the past 8 Years, she has been the Lead Guidance, Navigation and Controls Systems Engineer for Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, focusing on Cruise and EDL.  In 2020, she transitioned to Mars 2020 Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Operations lead and mission commentator for the landing of the Perseverance rover on February 18, 202. She is currently the Guidance, Navigation, and Controls lead for the Psyche mission, which is scheduled to launch in October 2023. Swati also co-founded and manages the Small Satellite Dynamics Test bed.