• By Jennifer Harby
• BBC News

eight minutes ago

Image supply, University of Leicester

Image caption,

Naomi met Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock on her take a look at to Leicester

A lady who is functioning at Nasa has spoken of how inspired she was by the appointment of Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock as her former university’s chancellor.

Naomi Rowe-Gurney, 32, a former student at the university, stated she had been inspired by Dr Aderin-Pocock’s profession.

“I could not think a black lady was on Television speaking about space science,” she stated.

Dr Rowe-Gurney, who is initially from Newbury in Hampshire, is on a two-year contract as a post-doctoral analysis scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Washington.

Image supply, Naomi Rowe-Gurney

Image caption,

Dr Rowe-Gurney stated it was her dream to operate to Nasa

She stated she had been “in adore” with space science from an early age right after a college trip to the London Planetarium.

“When I discovered out about space, I was about 5 years old,” she stated.

“When I realised we’re on just a single planet out of a lot of planets and rotating about a star, it all just, you know, sort of blew my tiny tiny thoughts.

“Ever considering that then I was definitely interested in deep space and black holes in cosmology, prior to I moved into planetary science.”

Image supply, Naomi Rowe-Gurney

Image caption,

Dr Rowe-Gurney stated she had constantly loved science

She stated that, as a black girl who loved science, coming across Dr Aderin-Pocock presenting the BBC’s The Sky At Evening had been “wonderful”.

“It was definitely an inspiration to see her there, and then I got the possibility to meet her as effectively, in Leicester, when she was filming a single of her episodes and, like a correct nerd, I asked her to sign my calculator,” she stated.

“I’ve nonetheless got it someplace and I treasure it.”

She stated she had also been inspired by mates and household members when she was expanding up, such as a single of her aunts who had performed a physics degree.

“I had a lot of part models expanding up,” she stated. “So that was a genuine important element in my accomplishment.”

She stated that though she had discovered the US incredibly diverse, Nasa itself was much less so but she was becoming mentored by senior black colleagues.

Image supply, Naomi Rowe-Gurney

Image caption,

Dr Rowe-Gurney stated her household had also inspired her profession

“That is sort of the purpose why I came to Nasa,” she stated. “You feel of black girls pioneers like in the film Hidden Figures, which is a single of my favourite films.

“I am assisting all the scientists who appear at planetary systems, so not just atmospheres, but surfaces, moons and rings.”

She stated it had been her dream to operate at the space agency and arrived there in October 2021, right after finishing a PhD at Leicester, for the duration of which she studied the atmospheres of Neptune and Uranus.

She is due to return to the UK in October and she stated she was searching forward to seeing her household.