Choctaw tribal member Kat Gardner-Vandy cannot remember a time in her life where she was not completely entranced by what lay beyond the earth’s atmosphere.
“I would look up at the stars and wonder what those bigger objects were, particularly the moon, and I could feel almost a sense of homesickness,” she said.
This sense of wonder and curiosity only grew stronger as she got older, leading her to immerse herself in all things related to astronomy, physics, and the vast possibilities of space travel. A visit to the Air National Guard with her uncle helped shape her dreams of studying space and aviation together. Today, she serves as an assistant professor of aviation and space at Oklahoma State University, where she shapes the minds of the next generation of engineers, astronauts, and space enthusiasts.
Kat’s academic journey began at a time when opportunities for women in aviation and space were becoming more prominent, but there was still a long way to go.
"When we as Native Americans or when we as women are not getting ourselves into those places or having people who are allies who can help us get into those places, our voice is not being heard," said Kat. "And we are by definition limiting the way in which we are solving the really big problems that we have in our world."
Despite the challenges, Kat pursued her passion with relentless determination, excelling in her studies and showing a natural aptitude for the sciences. She earned her undergraduate degree in geology at the University of Oklahoma, which served as the foundation for her future career.
Her desire to unlock the mysteries of the universe through the study of rocks only deepened as she continued her education. After completing her undergraduate degree, Kat moved on to graduate studies, specializing in planetary sciences at the University of Arizona, where she earned her Ph.D. Throughout her academic career, she sought out mentors and peers who could help guide her along the way. These relationships were instrumental in refining her knowledge, honing her skills, and encouraging her to aim higher than she ever imagined.
Growing up near Tulsa, Kat was outside the geographic boundaries of the Choctaw Nation and didn’t really understand what the Choctaw culture looked like. Fortunately, as part of a cohort of graduate students at the University of Arizona, she had the opportunity to learn alongside students from other tribal nations who were bringing their cultures into the laboratory with them.
“They were bringing the elders and storytellers into what they were doing to better understand this natural world we live in. So I thought, ‘How can I bring space and my culture together?’”
Swipe →"I am representing my past, my ancestors, and all the people here today who helped me become who I am."
Dr. Tim McCoy helped her find the answer to that question. Dr. McCoy is a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and the curator of meteorites at the Smithsonian Institute. He worked with Kat to find connections between the ancient cosmology of the Choctaw people and her modern studies of space.
“It’s a beautiful way of thinking of things because I am not a singular being. I am a product of all the different people in my past, in my family, and my mentors and teachers. I’m representing them. I’m representing my past; I’m representing my ancestors and all the people here today who helped me be who I am,” she said.
As she grew into her role as a planetary scientist, Kat learned more about her Choctaw roots and culture, leading her to feel deeply bonded to those who came before her and appreciate the interconnectedness of the world around her.
“The Native American way of knowing involves so much relationality. It’s so important to bring that relationality into science because everything is interwoven. And if we can think about things from a relational standpoint, then I truly believe that we can solve these really big problems that we have,” said Kat.
She also began to see the meteorites and rocks she studied in a new light.
"When I think of meteorites, I think of them as being these serendipitous gifts from our solar system. And for me, that means they are gifts from the Creator. Creator has put into each rock a story. Rocks are storytellers. They have all of this information about their early history just waiting for us to uncover them," she said.
A key part of Kat’s professional development was her decision to pursue a career in academia. The desire to teach and mentor future generations of students became clear to her early on. She wanted to inspire young people in the same way that her professors and mentors had inspired her. In her role as an assistant professor at Oklahoma State University, Kat can combine her passion for space with her love for teaching, creating an environment where students can explore the mysteries of aviation and space in depth.
As an educator, Kat looks for opportunities to bring science and Native American culture together. The NASA Science Activation Program became the perfect conduit for that work. The result was a collaboration with multiple tribal nations, including the Choctaw Nation, to develop curriculum for middle school students that would fuse Native culture and worldviews with modern scientific approaches. The curriculum is based on stories and language from each nation. Once the cultural foundation is established, earth and space sciences are added in.
“Lots of research shows that when you take education from a cultural standpoint, when you bring in story and language and art and culture into science curriculum, everybody does better, not just Native American students,” Kat said.
She was also instrumental in a collaboration with the Choctaw Nation to send heirloom seeds to the International Space Station through the Center for the Advancement of Science and Space and a partnership with Boeing. The seeds were launched successfully and have returned to Earth. They are currently at home with the Growing Hope Program, waiting to be planted by students at Jones Academy.
