Former Pro Model Becomes NASA Rocket Scientist

Fashion-model-turned-rocket-scientist Mary Michelle Easter has a message for other females interested in the STEM arts.

You can be “girly” and still be a scientist.

The former pro fashion model will be setting off for her dream job working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California this August, capping off a remarkable and inspirational career switch.

It’s been a long, strange trip - filled with frequent flyer miles - for the native of Highland, Maryland, who recently earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken.

According to Stevens Institute, Easter got her start in the industry while working in Los Angeles, when she got an offer to model in South Korea. For the next eight years, Easter travelled the world, living the life of a fashion model while shooting in dream destinations like Paris, London, Athens, Milan and Dubai.

Then in 2009, Easter moved to New York City, where she eventually realized that the life of a model wasn’t for her.

“In Manhattan, I was meeting people who really valued their education and their professional jobs,” Easter said. “And I realized that after years of modeling, although it was fun, I wasn’t challenged in the right way. I never produced anything from my mind.”

Soon, Easter had enrolled in physics and computer science classes at Hunter College, specializing in quantum physics even though she “didn’t even know how to do basic math” after an eight-year break from school.

During this time, she completed two years of internships at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at the Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, where her research was published in three international physics journals.

But even with her impressive resume, Easter still takes time to get her nails done.

“Even to this day I’m very girly,” she said. “I love fashion and I like to get manicures every other week.”

And that’s something young women interested in science should keep in mind, she emphasized.

“I think it’s really important for students, especially girls, to be exposed at a young age to role models who are successful engineers… but who are also different, who break stereotypes about what an engineer looks and acts like,” Easter said.