Watch your garden grow! Observe how seeds can thrive when their basic needs — air, water, nutrients, sunlight, and space — are met.

Meet Gioia Massa!

Job Title: NASA Life Sciences Project Scientist

Gioia Massa is a NASA scientist at Kennedy Space Center working on space crop production for the International Space Station and future exploration endeavors. She conducts research to study nutrition and flavor of space-grown crops, supports science in a variety of space station hardware, and works with external investigators, educators, and students.

What is your favorite thing about your career? My favorite thing about my career is the diversity of the things that I get to do. I am involved in many different projects with many different groups, which makes every day different and exciting, though sometimes I get a little stressed because I have to change my focus so often.

What is one piece of advice that you would tell someone who is interested in pursuing your career? For anyone interested in working in a career like mine as a government scientist I would advise you to take advantage of every opportunity and even make your own opportunities.  Getting tons of experience as a NASA intern and postdoctoral fellow helped me to build my credentials and network to make me competitive and knowledgeable in the field that I selected.