Kristin Kopperud's Biography

Kristin Kopperud, Science Program Director, Biological Sciences, International Space Station National Laboratory

Dr. Kristin Kopperud joined the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS), which manages the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory, as an Operations Project Manager in June 2020. She transitioned to the role of Science Program Director of Biological Sciences in the Research and Innovation department in March 2022. Her focus areas include tissue engineering, in-space production applications and biomanufacturing, and rodent research. In this role, she works with Principal Investigators to outline their science requirements during the early stages of their projects’ lifecycles. Using skills developed in her former role in the Operations department, she is able to evaluate concepts and proposals from an operational standpoint as well as a scientific one, which helps her to refine the projects’ requirements to feasibly support biology in microgravity. She also works with the Education department to use science as a means of education and outreach and presents to the public in webinars and conferences to connect to researchers in microgravity and beyond.

Dr. Kopperud received her BS in Biotechnology and Biology from the University of Kentucky. She earned her PhD in Biological Sciences from Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL studying circadian rhythms in the retina of the Atlantic tarpon. While she moved to Florida to pursue a career in marine biology, she was captivated by the space culture that was inescapable on the Space Coast. During graduate school, she taught undergraduate laboratory sections of Mammalian Physiology and Biology and was recruited to serve as a Research Support Scientist for several ISS National Lab-sponsored Rodent Research missions, serving as a surrogate for the crew on the ISS. Thus began a career in the aerospace industry—and she hasn’t looked back!