Skip to Content

Paulina Umansky

Paulina Umansky

MIT Department: Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Julien de Wit
Research Supervisor: Artem Burdanov
Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Hometown: Berkeley, CA
Website: LinkedIn

Biography

Paulina is a senior at UC Berkeley studying physics with a minor in planetary science. Her research experience includes sustainable planetary exploration, planetary chemistry, instrumentation, electrochemistry, and observational astronomy. Through NASA internships, Paulina has analyzed docking and rendezvous operations and designed lunar rover traverses. Last summer, she was a DOE fellow in Rome researching electrochemical methods for environmental and medical applications. Currently, Paulina leads her NASA-funded radiation shielding project to protect astronauts from high-energy protons in space. At MIT, she is searching for minor bodies around the solar system under Professor de Wit and Dr. Burdanov. Paulina is adaptable to challenges and has a collaborative mindset. After graduate school, she hopes to leverage space technologies for sustainable development and explore extreme environments on Earth as a researcher. Outside of academia, she aims to make education more accessible. She loves cats, hiking, road trips, and a good cup of coffee.

« Back to profiles