What happens when we integrate multi-media art with space, science, and technology? Neuroscientist Jancy McPhee is the founder and executive director of SciArt Exchange, an organization providing science and art fusion programs and celebrations of creative innovations. 

 

Jancy McPhee works as a Multidisciplinary Program Scientist in the NASA Human Research Program's Chief Scientist's Office and works with Aerospace Human Exploration and Space Flight scientific research with STEM/STEAM education programs.

“Space exploration has made an evolution to make sure that the human could survive…For short missions, and when we are sticking our toes in the waters of the universe, that was really what was needed. Now, when we’re talking about being gone for 1, 2, 3 years, now we’re talking about not just surviving, but thriving. That’s where there’s more room for the exchange between science and art. It’s really about being human in space. Human beings need to do more than just breathe their air.’”

-Jancy McPhee on Casual Space Podcast

About Jancy: 

Jancy McPhee wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to be when she grew up. She loved science and exploring, but all her hobbies were related to music and theater and reading about how other humans think, feel, create and move. Hoping to combine her interests, she became a neuroscientist, a person who examines the science behind these human capabilities. Formally, Dr. McPhee has a B.A. in Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Biophysics from Brandeis University. She was a cellular and molecular neuroscience researcher in academia for 17 years before joining the National Space Biomedical Research Association and later the Universities Space Research Association to manage various aspects of NASA’s domestic and international space life sciences research programs. Since 2010, she has been implementing motivating and novel ways to enhance space education and science and technology innovation and to promote global collaboration in human space exploration. She created the international Humans in Space Art Program and has been working to establish SciArt Exchange.

 

About SciArt Exchange: 

SciArt Exchange is a 501(c)(3) non-profit formed to continue and expand the international Humans in Space Art Program and to develop new science-and-art fusion programs. SciArt Exchange focuses on issues related to space, science, and technology and aim to provide an interdisciplinary framework for more effective dialogue, education, and innovation. https://www.sciartex.net/