NSC Alumni

Meredith Russell

Meredith Russell, a former volunteer at the NSC's Fort Discovery, provided us with this look at her experience with us.

"Before I worked with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the US Navy's Surface Missile Branch, and the ELETTRA Italian Synchrotron, I operated the Moonwalk, STARLAB, and Paul S. Simon Discovery Theater. Working at Fort Discovery combined with my home schooling education taught me not only the fun in learning science, but they encouraged me to continue exploring physics. Prior to leading STARLAB tours, the only constellation I could identity was Ursa Major. But after many STARLAB workshops combined with later NASA sounding rocket campaigns, I have learned what's viewable from Earth, along with the composition and dynamics of the Earth's atmosphere. Working at Fort Discovery was an invaluable experience. I will always remember fondly the wonderful people I met at NSC -Fort Discovery and the experience of learning and explaining science to people of all education levels and ages."
Tishun N. Turknett Tishun N. Turknett is a 2002 honor graduate of Lakeside High School. She volunteered for four years at the NSC at Fort Discovery where she enjoyed learning scientific concepts, manning displays, participating in scientific demonstrations, and interacting with the staff and visitors. She was featured in the Augusta Magazine for her volunteerism.

Tishun is a Junior Applied Mathematics major at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a WISE (Women In Science and Engineering) scholar, which has afforded her the opportunity to work at NASA Johnson Space Center and contribute to space shuttle habitability systems design and processes. She is a member of several campus organizations, has participated in the Summer Science and Engineering Program, and mentors and tutors youth.

In addition to her math and science endeavors, Tishun is also a very gifted artist. She loves to paint, draw, and sculpt. She's taking formal art courses as electives from world renowned professors to broaden her college experience.

Her plans are to earn advanced degrees in math and gain her teaching certification.
Tim Trout Tim Trout, Georgia's first JASON Argonaut, was a seventh grade student at Greenbrier Middle School when he and his class got involved in the JASON Project sponsored by the National Science Center. The next year he applied and was selected as Georgia's first JASON Argonaut. Tim and his classmates studied the JASON curriculum and in January of 2001 Tim left for Hawaii. Tim spent a week on the lava field of the Kilauea Volcano.

Tim is now a senior at Greenbrier High School in Columbia County, Georgia. He loves band, science, and scuba diving. Tim helped us emcee the JASON Expedition "Disappearing Wetlands," February 4, 2005, in the Paul S. Simon Discovery Theater at the National Science Center. His plans are to go to college and become an aerospace engineer.