LWON Ames – DANA BOLLES

DANA BOLLES NASA Ames Research Center

Payload Logistics Lead

Ms. Dana Bolles began her career at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida as a flight systems safety engineer. Her projects included payloads such as the Mars Orbiter and the third assembly flight for the International Space Station. After almost three years, Ms. Bolles spent the next 1-1/2 years at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, as a fire protection safety engineer.

She transferred to NASA Ames in 1999, where she has remained since. For her first 8 years at Ames, Ms. Bolles worked as an environmental compliance specialist. She managed programs that monitoreed air quality, industrial wastewater discharge, toxic gases, and aboveground storage tanks. She helped NASA Ames carry out its commitment to environmental protection by ensuring compliance with Federal, State, and local environmental regulations and by obtaining the required permits for all equipment and processes that had the potential to pollute the air, water, and/or ground.

For the next 2 years, Ms. Dana Bolles worked in Strategic Communications. She was in Government Relations her first year, where she acted as a liaison to local elected officials. She ensured they were aware of NASA Ames’ activities and coordinated tours for elected officials and their staff members. Her second year was spent in the Speakers Bureau (SB), coordinating NASA speakers for events in any of the 9-1/2 states supported by Ames’ SB program. She also assisted with special projects requiring an outreach component.

After her time in Strategic Communications, Ms. Bolles transferred to the Bioscience Division in the Flight Systems Implementation Branch. She worked for the Human Research Program (HRP) for the next 6 years. The HRP conducts research and develops technologies that allow humans to travel safely and productively in the environment of space. In her role with HRP, Ms. Bolles assisted with the Program/Project integration efforts and managed a number of tasks including Risk Management, Data Accessibility, and Information Management.

In January 2016, Ms. Bolles began training in her new role as Payload Logistics Lead. She ensures the logistics runs smoothly for all of the life science payloads that are managed within her organization.

Awards &/or Recognition(s):

In addition to her assigned job duties, Dana enjoys public speaking engagements, mainly to audiences of students. In 2015, she was the keynote speaker at a Tech Day event, sponsored by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women (NCBW) and Rocket Fuel, for girls in middle school. She has presented at numerous international speaking engagements such as in Italy, Taiwan, and Mexico. She is also active in disability rights issues and has served for several years as the Chair to the Ames Disability Advocates (ADA).

Educational Background:
Ms. Bolles attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, for 2 years, and graduated from the California State University, Long Beach, with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. She then attended San Francisco State University, where she received a master’s certificate in rehabilitation engineering and technology.

Featured Links:

2008 – Proyecto Vision – A Video Success Story

2003 NASA Press Release entitled “NASA EMPLOYEE’S DETERMINATION OVERCOMES CHALLENGES”

2003 – Wave magazine,

2001 – Trainer for Whirlwind Women in San Luis Potosi, Mexico

1998 – Plane Math (Meet Me Interview)

Speaking Engagements: Italy (1999 & 1997) & Taiwan (1997)

SEPTEMBER 2016