As a child, the exploration missions of Voyager, Pioneer, and Viking captured Shannon's imagination as few other things have. The images sent to Earth inspired a passion for astronomy and natural sciences that continues to shape her life. After deciding astronomy was more her speed than astronaut, she studied physics with a concentration in astronomy at Appalachian State University, in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Before ASU's Dark Sky Observatory had a warm room, she also did unintentional first hand research with hypothermia sitting at the telescopes during the long winter nights. Shannon is now a systems administrator and shares her passion for astronomy via astrophotography and can always be counted on to know when the International Space Station or an Iridium flare can be seen from her neighborhood.