User:Ireneschneider

Biography �

Irene Schneider Puente is a physicist and astrobiologist specialized in space radiation protection for human space mission simulations (Moon & Mars) and planetary radiation environments. Irene is of German nationality and was born in Madrid, Spain, where she went to the Universidad Autonoma in Madrid to study Pure Physics, continuing later in the U.S.A. to graduate with a bachelor in Science, in Physics (with honors) from the University of South Florida, Tampa. Nominated "Student of the Year" in 1998 by the American Physical Society, she was later awarded a research internship at the Fermi National Laboratory near Chicago, Ill. Following this, she won an invitation to attend the CERN Particle Accelerator School in Geneva, Switzerland. She then earned a full doctoral research award in the field of Nuclear Physics at the Nuclear Physics Institute in the Netherlands.

Irene holds a Masters degree in Geosciences from the Pennsylvania State University with a specialty in Astrobiology. Her research is focused around planet Mars and its surface radiation environments in collaboration with Professor James Kasting and Dr. Francis Cucinotta of the NASA Johnson Space Center. She is also a member of the NASA Virtual Planetary Laboratory, a group of distinguished scientists whose main goal is to understand how habitable other planets might be around other suns.

In addition, Ms. Puente has been a public speaker at scientific meetings such as "The Advanced Space Suit Symposium" at the Mars Society International convention and has been invited twice to be a guest on the "Space Show" a world renowned web based radio show where prominent space personalities are interviewed to discuss current space issues.

Irene speaks Spanish, English, some very forgotten German and colloquial French and is a member of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), American Nuclear Society, The Planetary Society, and The Mars Society.

She enjoys the company of friends, swimming and is an avid snow skier!