My first exposure to the reality of space exploration came in the form of visits to an aircraft company in St. Louis (where my father worked) to see the Mercury and Gemini capsules. I was always interested in space, but followed a different career path until the first Columbia flight in 1981; that convinced me to follow my dreams. I started catching up on manned and unmanned missions, doing programs and looking for way to get my foot in the door. I found it at the University of North Dakota in the world's first multidisciplinary Space Studies program. While there I also became the caretaker of Buzz Aldrin's collection of Gemini 12 and Apollo 11 artifacts, some of which I often used in talks. From there I was selected as an summer intern at Johnson Space Center in 1989 and took part in teacher workshops, center tours and two big events, Apollo 11 20th Anniversary and Voyager/Neptune. From there I completed the M.S. in Space Studies and went to Oklahoma State University to work on the Spacemobile Program. One year later I was working at JPL in public services and spreading the word on the lab's incredible accomplishments. We returned to Wyoming in 1994 to raise our family and start working with schools and community groups. As an Ambassador, I travel around the state educating audiences of all ages and backgrounds in the wonders of space and the benefits of this exploration. Our state is relatively isolated physically and culturally and I have found very positive receptions when I visit with groups on these exciting topics. I do this because I believe in space exploration very strongly and want to be a positive force in helping to shape our future.|SOLAR SYSTEM AMBASSADOR MASTER TEACHER