Influential Woman · Government

Amanda Adams

Communications Lead, Office of the Chief Science Data Officer, NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Huntsville, AL

6Awards received

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Bachelor's degree in Advertising and Public Relations from University of Alabama (2007) Degree MBA (2021)

Her Story

About Amanda

I've been in the government field for 9 years, and I am the Communications Lead for NASA's Chief Science Data Officer. In my position, I lead a team of 11 people, including contractors and NASA civil servants, to communicate the message about NASA's science data. We do a little bit of everything from exhibiting at scientific conferences to writing web features for our websites about how science data is making a difference. We also advocate for open science, making science accessible and transparent under the administration's Gold Standard Science Initiative, and we recruit people to use our AI Foundation models that we're developing that increase the utility of our science data. One of my most notable professional achievements was in 2023, the year of open science, when I led a campaign from beginning to end to launch an open science course called Open Science 101. We ended up going to 13 academic conferences that year, and we successfully launched the curriculum at the end of the year. Now we've had over 15,000 people take the course. I'm actually third generation to work for NASA Marshall Space Flight Center - I grew up around the space industry, with my father and grandfather working in the shuttle program and Apollo program as technicians. I've been around it my whole life. That's not initially where I saw myself going - I wanted to go work at an advertising firm in New York, but once I got started in my career, I wanted to do something that meant more, with more of a humanitarian benefit, so I found my way back here.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Amanda

01What do you attribute your success to?

I'm a first-generation college student. I did not know all the fields that women could get into growing up, honestly. I went to a very rural school in Alabama. I was very good at math and science, but I didn't know that that was a career option. So, I think just being able to see influential women that have come through NASA has been very inspiring to me. I think that a lot of my success can be attributed to those that have come before me and opened doors, as well as the support of my family.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

To never stop being challenged. If you find yourself in a place of comfort where you're going through the day to day, that's where burnout happens. To never stop growing.

03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

I think the biggest challenge in my field of communications, especially where we are today, is just that it's so saturated. Like, back when we launched the Apollo mission, you had 2 or 3 TV channels and maybe your local newspaper. But now everybody is so inundated with every news going on all around the world on a daily basis. Getting through the noise sometimes is a big challenge. Like, there's so much to pay attention to.

04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

I think the values that are most important to me at work would be a strong work ethic. I feel like that is actually kind of rare these days, to see somebody who's passionate about what they do and to be able to have the ability to figure something out and appreciate the challenge behind it. And then in my personal life, I think that a dedication to what you love actually spans both of those.

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