Dr. David Canales Garcia, assistant professor in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical College’s Department of Aerospace Engineering, expanded his experience in house science this yr by going past his typical analysis and delving deeply into the world of coverage.
Canales joined 21 science and engineering colleagues for the selective Christine Mirzayan Science and Expertise Coverage Fellowship Program, a 12-week program in Washington, D.C. that started in March.
In the course of the fellowship, Canales collaborated with the Area Research Board of the Nationwide Academy of Sciences. He mentioned this system geared up him with important insights to help the Nationwide Academies’ mission of delivering knowledgeable recommendation to those that make coverage.
“A variety of coverage is just not knowledgeable by science or engineering,” Canales mentioned. “The Nationwide Academies play an important position by providing knowledgeable, evidence-based suggestions on probably the most urgent problems with our time.”
Dr. Colleen Hartman, director of the Area Research Board and the Aeronautics and Area Engineering Board for the Nationwide Academies, lauded Canales’ contribution to this yr’s program.
“When David joined me as a Mirzayan Fellow on the Nationwide Academies, he introduced an infectious mix of scientific rigor, contemporary curiosity, concepts and boundless enthusiasm,” Hartman mentioned. “David immersed himself in science coverage — eagerly bridging technical insights with real-world decision-making. His skill to translate advanced technical points into clear, policy-focused narratives elevated each our workforce and the broader Mirzayan cohort.”
Canales and his canine, Frosty, loved an outing with Mirzayan fellows at Shenandoah Nationwide Park within the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. (Picture: David Canales Garcia)
As a professor, researcher and the director of the Area Trajectories and Functions Analysis (STAR) group at Embry-Riddle, Canales has shepherded a formidable variety of college students towards publication in peer-reviewed journals. Since its founding in 2022, the STAR group has revealed greater than eleven papers in top-tier journals.
Canales mentioned the fellowship program will additional advance his mentorship of Embry-Riddle college students.
“I acquired a broader view of house science generally,” he mentioned, including that considered one of his Ph.D. scholar researchers, Annika Anderson, has now expressed curiosity in house coverage and is exploring methods to combine it into her analysis. “This fellowship geared up me with the know-how to information my college students in that area.”
Canales and his workforce are actually increasing their analysis to handle the coverage and regulatory challenges of working in cislunar house — the area between Earth and the moon that’s turning into more and more energetic with authorities, business and worldwide missions. Their work explores matters reminiscent of how you can handle house site visitors, scale back the danger of collisions and develop zoning methods to prepare house exercise in a protected and sustainable approach.
“Our objective is to change into a go-to supply for knowledgeable steerage on cislunar operations,” Canales mentioned.
Dr. Anouck Girard, chair of the Aerospace Engineering Division, known as Canales’ fellowship “a well-deserved recognition of his expertise and drive, and a testomony to his excellent potential and fervour for making an actual impression on the planet of science and expertise coverage.”
Canales heard concerning the fellowship after turning into Embry-Riddle’s consultant to the Universities Area Analysis Affiliation, based beneath the auspices of the Nationwide Academy of Sciences. That position sparked his curiosity in house coverage, finally main him to the fellowship, the place he labored on tasks starting from particle physics to lunar and Mars exploration.
By means of actions organized by fellowship director Alison Boland-Reeves, he and the opposite fellows gained firsthand perception into how science connects to advocacy, federal budgets and diplomacy, deepening their understanding of how researchers can affect the way forward for house exploration.
Canales mentioned that the fellowship additionally helped him join with officers at NASA, business representatives and different specialists within the aerospace area. Such connections, plus the information he acquired throughout this system, will assist his lab’s analysis proposals to face out, he mentioned.
Hartman mentioned that Canales made robust connections with others on the fellowship occasions.
“David persistently impressed a number of the most revered names in physics, Earth sciences, astronomy, planetary safety and extra,” she mentioned.
