Rashika Rao is a doctoral student and Engineering Graduate Merit Fellow in Texas A&M’s Aerospace Engineering department. Her research interests include using analogue environments to investigate human health and performance in short- and long-duration spaceflight. She is currently working on investigating the effects of gravitational transitions on bimanual coordination task performance.
Rashika received her B.S.E. and M.Eng in Space Engineering from the University of Michigan. After graduating, she worked as a research coordinator in the University of Florida’s Neuromotor Behavior Lab, where she studied the effects of microgravity and varying gas conditions on the human glymphatic system. Outside of the lab, Rashika enjoys tennis, singing, and learning the electric bass. She is passionate about science outreach, and hopes to build on her undergraduate efforts in grad school.