College of Engineering and Science Alumni Awardees

Bio

Kristin Kopperud Ph.D. is an aerospace industry veteran with experience in operations project management, and expertise in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine experiments in microgravity.

Her previous position at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS), which manages the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory, as science program director of biological sciences in the Research and Innovation department, included focus areas in biomanufacturing, in-space production applications, and rodent research.

Kopperud received two bachelor's degrees from the University of Kentucky in biotechnology and biology.

She then earned her Ph.D. in biological sciences from Florida Tech, studying circadian rhythms in the Atlantic tarpon.

While she moved to Florida to pursue a career in marine biology, she was captivated by the space culture that was inescapable on the Space Coast.

During graduate school, she taught undergraduate laboratory sections of mammalian physiology and biology and was recruited to serve as a research support scientist for several ISS National Lab-sponsored Rodent Research missions, serving as a surrogate for the crew on the ISS.