by KARA SCHWEISS
Anthony Galdamez’s career has taken him to great heights both metaphorically and literally; he was in the U.S. Air Force for eight years and has provided opportunities to inspire space exploration as a NASA Solar System Ambassador since 2019. At one point he even went through training to become a scientific astronaut candidate through the International Institute of Astronautical Sciences.
“I love to share my high-G and microgravity experiences with others,” he said. “My current research is to identify how certain microorganisms behave in microgravity and various atmospheres, the same micros that kick off our serotonin, answering a million-dollar question of ‘What do we grow in space and how will it make us feel?’”
He added, “My research is for space and Earth. How do we learn from the cosmos and ultimately improve life as humans? If you stop the curiosity, you slow down and eventually stop the discoveries, the exploration and our natural ability to find things in life that are very meaningful to us as a civilization. Never stop being curious.”
The multifaceted Galdamez is an educator at heart, teaching students from the elementary to college levels, including a stint at UNO as a program instructor (also teaching at the university’s summer Aim for the Stars Science and Math Camp) and his current role as manager of STEM programming at Metropolitan Community College. He also served as the program manager for Kiewit Luminarium.
“My career has been driven by curiosity in all sciences,” said Galdamez, who completed his master’s degree at UNO in 2015, studying education with a concentration in STEM. He also received the UNO Distinguished Service Award in 2024.
“This idea that everything has been discovered and that records have been set is a big misconception,” he said. “When we are curious, we push ourselves to learn and we explore undiscovered possibilities.”
He’s enjoyed his work immensely, Galdamez said, and appreciated the people he’s worked with and others he’s “inspired through curiosity.”
“I think most of my highlights are sharing that moment of discovery and seeing the light bulb go off when people get their mind blown,” he said, adding that UNO was instrumental in providing opportunities for “working with classmates to develop ideas and programs we would love to see implemented in our community, then going out to actually accomplish them.”
Galdamez’s sense of curiosity was evident even earlier, he said.
“Fun fact: (when I was) a teenager, my uncle took me to explore volcanoes in Central America. From seeing rare vegetation growing to remembering the smell of the misty clouds, it will always be a lifetime memory,” he said.
He’s still ever-ready for new discoveries today.
“I always carry a scientific exploration kit in my vehicle to explore the world, even if it’s at the beach with your family or a road trip through New Mexico to identify lava rocks, viewing different world phenomena that we usually overlook,” he said. “I’m always adding to my professional goals, which reminds me of Leonardo Da Vinci’s quote, ‘Art is never finished, only abandoned.’ Who knows what I will be working on when it’s time to close the textbook?”
