Nicole McGaa earns NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for bioastronautics research

Graduate Student Nicole McGaa (Aerospace Physiology Lab and Space Enabled) has been awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her research at the intersection of human physiology and long-duration spaceflight.

McGaa’s research focuses on how circadian disruptions impact astronaut health on long-term spaceflight missions. Her work examines how sleep, in the stressful and highly regimented lives of astronauts, affects their psychological state, autonomic nervous system control, and other physiological health markers.

“I believe that the dual approach of continued characterization of human physiology in the extreme environment of space combined with better engineered countermeasures will lead to safer and longer missions, more inclusive astronaut selection, and technology that is translationally applicable to health across the globe,” says McGaa. “Bioastronautics research has always catalyzed critical breakthroughs for us on Earth, from emergency medicine, public health, medical device design, and so, so much more.”

In addition to her research, McGaa volunteers as an EMT with MIT EMS and serves as one of the leaders of the MIT Native American & Indigenous Association; she was a 2023 Brooke Owens Fellow and founded the MIT First Nations Launch team. Her work continues to be shaped by her commitment to sustainable and inclusive space exploration informed by Indigenous perspectives.