Gerard Newsham

Undergraduate Degree

BSc. (Hons) Bioanalysis and Biotechnology, 2008

Work History

  • Oct 2008 - Apr 2009; Dynamac Corporation, Kennedy Space Center, Florida (Intern)
  • Apr 2009 - Present; Dynamac Corporation, Kennedy Space Center, Florida (Permanent Employee as of Nov 2009)

About Gerard

Gerard Newsham, originally from Corbally limerick, began his studies in the Higher Certificate in Applied Biology in 2004 in the Department of Applied Science, School of Science, Engineering and IT at Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT). Taking the ladder system approach through the Biology Stream within the Applied Science Department he graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Bioanalysis and Biotechnology. In 2008 he was selected for an internship in the Nationally Sponsored Discover Science Challenge Programme. This internship placed him in the Space Life Science Lab at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida from 1st October 2008 until 14th April 2009. For six months Gerard worked along side the ground research staff in the Space Life Science Lab primarily working in the environmental growth chambers and on the hydroponics inside for plant production. One project Gerard work on was “Sustainable Salad Crop Production”, this involved the comparison between light emitting diodes (LED’s) and compact fluorescent light on the crop yield of salad crop example; Lettuce. Upon completion of the internship, Gerard was offered an internship with the Space Life Science Laboratory, KSC contract company Dynamac to continue working with the Space Scientists on Space life Science experiments destined for Space Flight, after which he was made a permanent employee on 1st November, 2009.

In September 2010, he registered as an LIT Master of Science research postgraduate under the supervision of Ms. Michelle McKeon-Bennett, Head of Department of Applied Science at LIT & Professor Gary Stutte of the Space Life Science Laboratory, NASA-KSC, joining the newly established Controlled Environment Laboratory for Life Sciences (CELLS) Research Group of which Ms. McKeon-Bennett is Principal Investigator. Gerard is still currently working at Kennedy Space Center as a member of their space flight research group and carrying out his postgraduate research and hopes to complete his Masters in the near future. In July 31st 2010, Gerard married Cocoa, Florida born Emma Rader who was at the time Manager of Education Programs for Space Florida under her Director Tony Gannon. They reside in Cocoa, Florida, a few miles from Emma’s parents.