Calandrelli is an engineer turned science communicator. Credit: Morgan Demeter
Emily Calandrelli, an MIT engineer, science communicator, host and Emmy-nominated television producer, is going into space.
On July 16, Calandrelli took to social media to announce that she will be launching aboard a Blue Origin spacecraft, a feat that will make her one of the first 100 women in space. Calandrelli’s announcement garnered a lot of attention on social media from her 3 million followers, and she hopes the flight will inspire young women and girls to reach for the stars.
“I’m very excited about this next generation of space exploration because more people from different backgrounds will be able to experience it and share it in their own unique ways with their audiences,” says Calandrelli. Astronomy.
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Space flight
It’s not yet publicly known when the Blue Origin flight, which is sponsored in part by the nonprofit Wing 2 Wing Foundation, will take place, but it will include Calandrelli and five other crewmates. The foundation has an affiliation with Marshall University in West Virginia — Calandrelli’s home state. Calandrelli’s flight will also highlight the Marshall For All, Marshall Forever program, designed to help Marshall University students graduate debt-free. Calandrelli champions accessible education because of her scholarship experience that allowed her to excel academically. This later allowed her to go to MIT for her master’s degree. “If I hadn’t covered the tuition, none of this would have been possible. And so, I’m a big advocate for accessible education,” says Calandrelli.
One of the things Calandrelli is taking with her on her flight is her father’s college class ring. Her father, Brad Calandrelli, was the first in his family to attend college, inspiring Calandrelli’s career path. He grew up in poverty, but with persistence and perseverance, he built a better home for his family, she says. As a high school senior, Calandrelli watched her father work tirelessly. She looked for the highest paying career to graduate in: it was engineering. “As soon as I was there, I fell in love with it.”
To further fund the flight, Calandrelli has also partnered with Space for Humanity as a citizen astronaut program ambassador. Her tour will also highlight science communication and women in STEM (which stands for science, technology, engineering and math).
Communication of science
When creating messages about science, Calandrelli pays attention to what she wears and how she presents herself. In Calandrelli’s Emmy-nominated Netflix show Emily’s Miracle Lab, she wears pink overalls. Her social media posts on TikTok feature pastel-colored dresses and bright makeup. “When I was the host of Outer Space Xploration, I would wear these all-black, monochrome outfits because I thought it would help me take myself more seriously. I was just really nervous about being a woman in STEM. I’m already a bit out of the ordinary and I didn’t want to draw attention to that fact,” says Calandrelli.
The more Calandrelli gained confidence to embrace herself and her true expertise, the more feminine the clothes became. “Now, when I go out for book signings or speaking engagements, I wear something feminine, frilly, pink and sparkly, and that’s because it makes me happy. I also see how little kids, especially little girls, look at me when I’m doing these science experiments in a little dress,” says Calandrelli. Over the years, her messages have focused on inspiring kids to find fun in science and to pursue it as a career.
However, Calandrelli has struggled with financing her science-themed shows. “[Hollywood executives] see women hosting science shows as a very special thing that guys and men wouldn’t want to see, and so I’ve tried and failed many times to do science shows with myself as the host,” says Calandrelli. The feedback she gets from the hosts is that most of the people who watch such shows are boys and men. So shows with a female host, especially one with a STEM theme, are considered a financial risk. “It’s very disappointing because I have people and families who would just die for more Emily’s Wonderlabbut for the life of us, we can’t find someone to finance it,” says Calandrelli.
She adds that tending to the human side of science and not shying away from emotion is key for those who want to enter the field of science communication.
Calandrelli’s next step, after her trip to space, is to work on a book for adults. The book will be a collection of stories she wishes she had when she first went to college, first becoming a mother, and her thoughts on life at this stage in her career. Calandrelli described it as a “feminist manifesto” with mixed scientific histories.
“[Women] can exist in so many different emotions and interests and identities, and just trying to find a way to embrace all of them and not be pigeonholed into a box, I think is really important,” she says.