Adriana Ocampo

I am sure that you have learned about, or at least heard of, the famous asteroid-dinosaur theory: an asteroid made a crater 65 million years ago that led to the extinction of the entire dinosaur species. Additionally, its impact triggered the extinction of more than half of the Earth's species. For this discovery, we can thank Adriana Ocampo, whose research resulted in the uncovering of the Chicxulub impact crater.

"When thinking about the great adventure that you have ahead, dream and never give-up, be persistent and always be true to your heart" - Ocampo.

Born in 1955 in Barranquilla, Colombia, Ocampo grew up in Argentina and attended high school in the U.S. Ever since the early stages of her childhood, she knew space was what she wanted to explore. She used to look up at the stars on her roof and wonder how far they were from her. She envisioned exploring space with her dolls and pet dogs as her fellow astronauts, making spacecrafts from the pots and pans in her kitchen and dressing up her dolls as astronauts. Her dog Taurus was her co-pilot!

"Space exploration was my passion from a very young age, and I knew I wanted to be part of it. I would dream and design space colonies while sitting atop the roof of my family's home in Argentina" - Ocampo.

Ocampo's parents supported her passion, and she was part of a scout troop sponsored by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In her volunteer work and summer job with JPL, she analyzed pictures from the NASA Viking Spacecraft. Originally, Ocampo wanted to study aerospace engineering, but she became fascinated by geology. Accordingly, she has degrees in Planetary Geology from California State University. Also, she actually obtained her PhD from a University in the Netherlands.

As I mentioned earlier, Ocampo's research led to the discovery of the Chicxulub impact crater on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. She spearheaded six expeditions to study this major impact. Additionally, she has worked on many space missions. In 2005, she was a part of the Galileo mission team which was investigated Jupiter and its moon Europa. In her role as Lead Science Manager for NASA's New Frontiers Program currently, she has worked on missions to Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and even Pluto!

To cap things off, I wanted to share the advice that Ocampo gives to young girls following her footsteps: a mnemonic STARS, standing for

Smile: Life is a great adventure. Transcend to triumph over the negative. Aspire to be the best. Resolve to be true to your heart. Success comes to those who never give up on their dreams.