 Hi, my name is Amelia Miller, I'm a Tufts IGL sophomore majoring in international relations in Arabic. Today I'm interviewing Lauren Millard, another Tufts IGL alum. Lauren Millard is a director of programs at DreamUp where she believes that a learner's early educational experiences can make or break their pathway to a STEM career. Lauren works with a range of international space agencies and focuses on expanding access to space-based educational opportunities, including microgravity experiments and the Dreamkit and Dreamcoder project lines. So hi, Lauren. Hi. So you're hoping to start off, could you just tell us a little bit about the work you do? Like what does a normal day look like? Sure, yeah. So first of all, thanks so much for interviewing me, apologies for being obviously on the road and in the car making a little bit of a trip today. I'm not driving, so that really appreciate the opportunity. So as you mentioned, I'm director of programs for a company called DreamUp and so we are a small company. I'm based in Washington, DC. My boss is actually based in Abu Dhabi, Trump in the UAE, so we're a small company that works around the world like you said in your intro to expand opportunities in the international space station. So we work as educational organizations, students directly, who all do things in space. So because we're so small, my day-to-day is pretty varied, but a lot of what I do is kind of managing our contracts in our programs generally. So we've got everything from contracts and space agencies. We've worked with the UAE space agency, for example, on a kind of multifaceted contract in which we've allowed or provided the opportunity for university students to do research on the space station. So everything from kind of that level to overseeing the development of STEM science kits that you can buy on our website or on Amazon that let you replicate and experience the space station. So really a lot of what I end up doing is having a lot of calls with my customers, suppliers, colleagues around the world, ensuring that kind of all these programs are running smoothly, contracts are being implemented the way they're supposed to, sometimes going to talk directly with students that are working with us around the world, which is honestly my favorite part of the job a lot of the times. And yeah, kind of just making sure that all the wheels are turning. So I think a lot of people don't even realize that this is an option in international relations. So how did you get involved in this field? That's a great question. And honestly, I never would have thought that I was here when I graduated. So I'll kind of give a little bit of a picture of my journey since I graduated. That's okay. So I graduated in 2012 as an IR major with the concentration in better national security. And I actually ended up basically as my first job out of college working for Boston public schools in community engagement for the school district. So I was doing partnership building and community engagement work around, you know, school district policy, which that wasn't even exactly where I thought I would be when I graduated, but it ended up being something that I found really interesting and fulfilling and it was actually an interesting application of international relations in a lot of ways because there was a lot of politics and a lot of people I was working with from a lot of different places. But after, I ended up actually staying there for five years, that after about five years I was like, this is, I'm ready for a new challenge and a new opportunity. And you know, I've been kind of in this government role now for a while and I'm interested in working somewhere a little bit more entrepreneurial. So I kind of had that in the back of my mind, but wasn't necessarily actively looking for something new. But then I had a friend of mine who is my ethnic classmate, Katherine Munson, who had started working for this at the time. She was working for this company called Spire, which she could say a whole lot better than mine. So you should look up Spire instead of relying on what I say, but they do work in satellite technology and in small satellites. And so she had met my former boss at a rocket launch, heard that my former boss wanted to hire somebody to run educational programs for the company. And you know, I happen to just kind of see her share the posting on social media and I was like, this seems really cool. I think I'm like super well-suited for this. I've been building partnerships for years and I've been looking for something more entrepreneurial and like the idea of getting to provide this opportunity for students that could be really hands-on where students can do experiments on the space station, like that sounds awesome. Sign me up. So I basically was introduced to the company through my friends and found this job and kind of fell into this industry, which is super, I should say like it's a super global industry. You know, most of the companies that work with multinational like we really work all around the world. There's been a very interesting kind of convergence, I think of a lot of what I studied and a lot of my interests and then a lot of the skills that I built through my career prior to joining the company. So international relations is obviously a very interdisciplinary field, but I think a lot of people don't realize that STEM can be a part of that. Could you talk a little bit about the intersection of STEM and international relations in a field like this? Yeah, that's a great question. And you know, it's interesting because when we do our projects with schools, we really try to emphasize with schools that are doing science experiments in the space station that there's a lot more to doing a science experiment than just science. And there's a lot more to working in the space industry than just being an engineer or you know, and I like to share my background as part of that. I mean, I came to the space industry through having an international relations major, you know, degree and working in education and now I'm here. And so I always like to emphasize their students that, you know, even though they're doing STEM like you, there's importance in being a good communicator. There's importance in, you know, having these other kinds of skills. I think that there's a lot more intersections of international relations in STEM in the same way that you would imagine. I mean, there is the woman who runs the NASA office for inter-agency, you know, inter-space agency affairs, basically, you know, scientific agencies. So there's a lot of overlap and a lot of importance in being multidisciplinary. But it's also something I think, you know, international relations prepares you very well for. And then obviously, obviously the world is in a state of chaos right now. And COVID-19 has affected a lot of industries because you talk specifically about how COVID-19 has affected the commercial space industry and how has space education changed now that things are over Zoom? Yeah, that's a really good question, too. I, so, I mean, the most immediate thing that happened obviously was that all of a sudden I went from working in an office with a handful of colleagues every day to working from my kitchen table. And, you know, that was a little bit of an adjustment. I would say, you know, in my industry and in my work, because I work with so many people around the world, a lot of my day is being on calls and, you know, being on Zoom calls. So that didn't actually change that much, except I, you know, could do it from two feet from my bedroom. Of course, though, when we're preventing educational services and a lot of those educational services are delivered in a classroom, you know, that changes a little bit when kids are learning from home. And so, but there actually was kind of a silver lining in that for us because there, there was actually a lot of push for providing resources for parents and families, you know, immediately at the beginning of the pandemic in the spring that could be used at home very easily. And so we actually ended up featuring an article on CNN's website, for example, about space education resources that parents can use right now, you know, as their kids are learning from home. So in some ways it became almost an ideal opportunity to promote what we had because a lot of times space education doesn't even fit that well into a standard curriculum. We're kind of doing this interdisciplinary, like, funky thing that often is an extracurricular anyway. So it almost became an opportunity to, like, bring us into a kids day-to-day learning when they're, because they aren't, not during every day. We also, my sister company basically in Italy to provide programming for students in Italy as they learn from home, thanks to support from the European Space Agency. So the European Space Agency at the outbreak of the pandemic was looking for ways to support Italian students impacted, having to learn from home, and they said, you know, how can we use the resources that we have on the International Space Station to support students. And we actually had a product that we're like, I think this is a great fit. And the product is a curriculum and a program that allows students to actually learn how to kind of do computer engineering and then write code, send it to the space station and then execute it and then get data back. So they're learning skills, learning really interdisciplinary and computer engineering skills and using this asset on the station. And it's an online curriculum that they could, you know, we could easily adapt for the home setting. And so we saw this, you know, kind of great opportunity and ESA thought it was worthy of funding. And the European Space Agency thought it was worthy of funding. And so, you know, we kind of ended up with some of these new opportunities as things have evolved. I should say, you know, there's other contracts and things that we have that did get delayed. We are fortunate though, like I said, that we're adaptable and a lot of our customers are adaptable. The space station is still up and running and there's astronauts that are still there that need supplies and are still working. So it's been a, it's part of critical infrastructure. And in that way, you know, the schedule has kind of kept moving in terms of all the things we need to prepare. So for the commercial space industry that I've seen generally, it hasn't had as dramatic of an impact as I think other industries have seen because a lot of space, at least in the United States, have not around the world is kind of categorized as critical infrastructure for a lot of countries. So I mean, if you follow the news of like SpaceX and those kinds of companies, they're still doing tons of launches. They're still, you know, SpaceX is launching in Starlink Network. There's still a lot happening in the commercial space industry. I think there, you know, there was a few companies that were hit hard, but to the most part, people have been chugging along. And along with this idea of space education, what early learning experiences do you think can encourage young children to pursue a career in STEM? Yeah, I think that's answering that question is what got me into this job. And I'll kind of deviate a little bit. But, you know, when I was in Boston Public Schools, I worked in, you know, I guess in some ways, talks about like high risk neighborhoods. I worked with a lot of kids of color, a lot of immigrant kids, a lot of kids use first language is in English, kids who were economically disadvantaged. And so, you know, I ended up working a lot in helping to build a new building for a STEM school in Roxbury. And, you know, I saw this potential for this, like really awesome resource in Roxbury. But there was this really beautiful school where you have a tailored STEM program that there was a gap between even, even with this school and with this building and with these resources, there's a little bit of a gap between learning in school and actually like doing something hands-on or even having role models. To STEM fields, so it became apparent to me that, you know, by giving kids the opportunity to do something hands-on and real, like kids, you know, through our programs and other programs like ours are able to do real experiments and they send to the space station using the same equipment and same materials that a researcher could use, a professional researcher, academic researcher could use. And, you know, those are the kinds of opportunities I wanted to provide to the kinds of kids I used to work with back at, you know, the STEM school that I was helping to get rebuilt. And so, to more directly answer your question, the things that I think are most critical is providing, you know, hands-on project-based opportunities at the right times for students to get them interested and excited about STEM. And all the research shows that the perfect age to do this is kind of middle school age, you know, 12 to 14 years old. This is where students really start to self-identify. This is where we lose girls. This is where we lose, you know, students of color. Like, this is where we lose a lot of the students who don't have role models and don't really understand how they can pursue a STEM course or career. And by giving them a project, so when I talk about project-based learning, it's, you know, a delivery model of education that allows students to explore abroad. I'm sorry, I'm getting a call. Okay, can you see me? Sorry about that. Disadvantages of being on your phone. So, by giving students the opportunity to explore a project that's multi-disciplinary, they're also able to kind of explore things that are interesting to them. And that's also very important in sparking their curiosity about STEM because that way they can actually do something they find interesting and meet and explore it and kind of spark their wonder rather than, you know, just learning math or learning, you know, science facts and classroom. So those are, that's what's critical. And then shifting gears a little bit, do you believe the STEM field and more specifically the study of space and astronomy actively encourage women in the field? And if not, what steps do you think can be taken to make STEM more inclusive? I think bright spots and there's some people that I look up to in the industry. There's a woman, for example, a woman named Emily Calandrelli who is kind of nicknamed the Space Gal and she just released a television show called Emily's Wonder Lab on Netflix and it's a kids show. It's like in the vein of, you know, Bill Knight of Science Guy or some of the things that I grew up with. Except it's a woman, you know, doing the show, showing that she could be a woman scientist, you know, get kids excited about science. And even better, when she filmed the show she was like eight months pregnant. So she was showing these kids, you know, like, and it's just, that's who she is on the show. She's a woman who's pregnant and, you know, doing science, getting kids about science and showing that there's space for people like her to, you know, young girls and things like she's doing. That said, of course, in the industry. And so I think, you know, there's more to be done to provide pathways for people to get mentorships and get into careers. I mean, further down the line, there's fellowships and programs for, there's a Brooklyn Fellowship, which is a fellowship for women to work and intern in commercial space companies. And I, there's actually a new program and now I don't remember the name but my boss is actually a mentor for it. But after Black Lives Matter protests and things like that this summer, the space industry realized there was a little bit of a need for something like that for Black students to provide pathways for them into the commercial space industry as well. And so there's a new fellowship there. And so I think those kinds of programs, like in replicating those kinds of successful models is really important because not only are they providing a pathway, but they also provide mentorship, you know, so people can understand like, how do I get in and then learn from a mentor, like what do I do now and how do I stay engaged in this industry? Yeah, and I guess your question specifically was about women, but I mean, I think it's intersectional as well. Yeah, I think that's a really good point. The intersectionality of the field. And then I suppose more broadly, where do you see the commercial space industry going? Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, it's huge. It's huge and it's booming. And I never even knew the kind of role that I'm in. Like I said, that I would even be in it or that it even existed, you know, but I could work in a company that provides space based opportunities to students. And what's even more amazing is that there's other companies and nonprofits like mine that exist. And so I see more, honestly, so there's a lot of talk where I work about what the future of the International Space Station looks like and, you know, the International Space Station has only been certified to a certain date, which is not too far off into the future. So we're gonna see the rise of commercial space, actually. There's companies like Axiom Space and others that are developing commercial space stations. Our sister company, Nanorax, is developing commercial platforms for space. And so we're gonna see more private actually buy space agencies anymore. And often actually space agencies are gonna become the customer of commercial space. This is something that Nanorax talks about all the time, that they were one of the pioneers here. And so that's really where I, there's gonna be a shift and there already has been a big shift between, you know, the role of commercial actors and space agencies for sure. And I mean, I think, you know, there's been all these kind of startups up and coming. So I think it'll also be interesting to see how they kind of grow and share and align to come establish, especially in the small satellite industry and things like that, that have really boomed and exploded over the last few years. And then finally, another more general question. For those who are interested in possibly pursuing a career in the industry, what do you think is the future of international relations in space? That's a great question. I mean, it is, there's, in some ways, it's kind of like the wild west, you know, there's some fundamental space love and not much more than that. And so there's still a lot of international negotiation and international cooperation, competition, you know, there's a lot of things that are happening and will continue to happen. I mean, there's, I'm not a space lawyer, but there's a lot of talk around space lawyers about, you know, kind of how we need to update policy because it hasn't caught up to things like the small satellite revolution or, you know, to how commercial space is acting. So I think for folks that are interested in, you know, the intersections of policy and international relations in space, there's a lot of room to get into some really interesting things that are, there's an interesting program even at George Washington University, they do a mass case in space policy, for example, that, you know, deals with a lot of those issues. I think even in the commercial side, I mean, I have the privilege of working with the European Space Agency, the UAE Space Agency, organizations in Kuwait, Thailand, you know, Hong Kong, like all around. And so I think there's also a lot of pathways for international relations through commercial space as well. Well, thank you so much, Lauren, for agreeing to do this interview today. It was really informative and interesting and I'm sure it'll be really beneficial for a lot of people who are interested in career in space. Also, yeah, thanks so much for having me. Yeah, sorry that I had to be in the car to do it, but you know, it's COVID, I guess, and my office is almost anywhere, so. Yeah, so thanks so much. And I mean, if students wanna look me up or reach out to me, you know, I'm happy to kind of provide guidance how I can. Thank you so much. Thanks.