Kimberly Land '96 is the voice of NASA and loves every minute of it. As public affairs, outreach and education manager for NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP), she tells the world about technological advances within the agency, and right now, she has her sights on the moon.
"A renewed vision for space exploration has prompted NASA to develop a sustained human presence on the moon as the first stepping stone for a trip to Mars and even further into our solar system," Kimberly said. The immediate goal is a lunar outpost with safe, self-sustaining living quarters where astronauts can live for three to six months or even a year. To facilitate a stay on the moon, lunar rover concepts are being tested to allow crews to spend up to three days living and working away from their lunar base.
Kimberly began her career with NASA in 1998. "I was on the bottom tier then," she said, "but now I'm on the front end of changing the future. I sit at the same table with geniuses!"
Initially, Kimberly planned to study computer science, but she "fell in love" with communication studies. "Even now, I use so much of what I learned at LC in my job," she said.
"LC professors are not just professors," she explained. "They're family, and they genuinely care about you.
Two of Kimberly's professors, Dr. Woody Greenberg and Dr. Cheryl Jorgensen-Earp, share Kimberly's enthusiasm about her LC days. "Kimberly Land is an alum we can be proud to call our own," said Dr. Greenberg, executive director of the Donovan Media Development Center. "She learned the basics of broadcast journalism as a reporter for ‘Eye on LC,' the video news magazine we were then producing, and later became the anchor of that show. She was also an editor for The Critograph. She has a great work ethic and a terrific personality. I've had many students in my twenty-six years at LC, and Kimberly stands out as one of the best and most memorable."
"When I think back to Kim as a student, I can still picture in my mind exactly where she sat in my classes," recalled Dr. Jorgensen-Earp, associate professor of communication studies. "She was always a dynamic young woman, eager and energetic, and she absorbed information so readily that her desire to learn was clear from the beginning. I knew that she would have a successful career, although I did not know at the time exactly where she would ‘land.' For those of us who knew Kim as a student, it is particularly gratifying to see how she is using what she learned at LC and how very happy she is in her life and work."
Kimberly returned to campus in March to speak to LC's Public Relations Student Society of America chapter. "It was wonderful to have Kim return to share her particular path to a position that she clearly loves," Dr. Jorgensen-Earp said. "During a time when finding the right career can be challenging, it was good for our students to see Kim's knowledge, creativity, and drive and to understand how those traits can help them achieve a fulfilling professional life."
As for Kimberly, she's looking ahead. "At NASA, we are vitally interested in finding young people to fill our shoes," she said. "We're looking for the next generation of explorers."