ODESSA, Texas — Falcon Early College High School senior Deidre Morales received an invitation Monday to present her experimental findings at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Atlanta at the end of July this year.
Her study focused on whether the response of bacteria degrading plastic on Earth would have the same effect in microgravity inside the International Space Station.
She is not the only student to speak on behalf of their work, but she is the only student representing all of Texas.
Morales reflects on the science project, "So at first, we weren't really sure that we would get it to the International Space Station, but it was worth it. We wanted to have that experience and we were really happy to do it. We learned a lot in the process."
Among ISSR&D Conference keynote speakers includes Chief Medical Correspondent for CNN Dr. Sanjay Gupta and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.
Morales hopes to continue her education by studying at the University of Texas at Austin.