Although seemingly these small insects and space rocket launches have nothing in common, doctoral student Dagmara Stasiowska specializes in finding solutions to sending bees into space. Why are they crucial to the success of future space missions?
The story of how she started her PhD is multifaceted. She had always wanted to pursue science, but she was unsure of the specific path to take. During her engineering and master’s studies, Dagmara majored in environmental and renewable energy sources. During this time, she also discovered the AGH Space Systems research association, which specializes in space technologies, and enthusiastically joined it.
“That’s when my childhood love for space and my desire to go there was revived,”
After a while, she began working on the development of payloads, the scientific cargo placed aboard a rocket, and decided that this was the field she wanted to pursue in her scientific career.
She found a supervisor for her doctorate in an unusual way – without setting up an appointment, she went to the only professor at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow who used to be scientifically involved in computer modeling of bee colonies. She explained to him her idea for research, linking the cosmos with bees. Shortly after, the implementation of her innovative experiment began.
Bees in space
Dagmara talks about serious plans for space settlement, presented not only by Elon Musk, but also by major space agencies. They all include the establishment of the first settlements on Mars in the coming decades.
“At some point we will have to become independent of the constant supply of food from Earth. Now, when you fly into space, you take all your food supply with you. However, if we want to seriously think about settling somewhere long term, we have to start providing food ourselves.”
A huge role in growing the crops that humans eat is played by the pollination process, and honey bees are some of the most popular pollinators.
“Taking the bees with us is a reasonable thing to do. The question is whether they will survive such a journey. And it is a question that no one has yet tried to find an answer to,”
She says that in the 1980s NASA conducted research on how bees manage to build honeycombs in weightlessness. There were also experiments on whether bees can fly without gravity. And back in the 21st century, a team of Chinese researchers focused on the effects of cosmic radiation on the sperm of drones, the male bees.
“But that’s about it. No one has looked at what effect the overloads that occur during a rocket launch might have on the bees. And I found out that this is where we need to start,”
Dagmara notes that this stage simply cannot be avoided. Even microgravity can be circumvented to some extent, because you can simulate the conditions of the Earth’s pull aboard a flying rocket by using a centrifuge. But the launch always looks the same and has a huge impact on humans and every living creature, as well as the equipment on board, Dagmara stresses.
Innovative research
“The subject of my PhD is a computer model that I am developing,” she says. Her goal is to add and verify the operation of a module to another existing computer model of the BEEHAVE bee colony. Currently, the model makes it possible to predict the dynamics of bee colony development, taking into account weather conditions and available forage. The module which Dagmara is developing will additionally offer the ability to simulate the development of a colony in which the bee queen has been subjected to stress.
The first part of Dagmara’s doctorate was biological research, as no data existed at the time on the topic she was undertaking. In the experiment, she placed the bee queens with an entourage on the base of an overload centrifuge belonging to the Military Institute of Aviation Medicine in Warsaw, subjecting them to the overloads that occur in a rocket during launch. Then, the bees were returned to the hives, after which Dagmara checked how they reproduced. Based on the data collected, Dagmara is now focusing on creating a model, which is the actual topic of her PhD.
Challenges associated with a narrow field of research
Initially, the topic had no funding because Dagmara, in collaboration with her professor, developed it from scratch. Due to the innovative and groundbreaking nature of the project, it was difficult to find suitable grants for its implementation.
“I had no idea what I was getting into,”
She spent most of the first year of her PhD looking for research money. Finally, she received funding from the department and material support from the Apiculture Foundation, which helped her build an experimental apiary from scratch.
The first year taught her how to apply for funding, where, as she notes, there is a lot of competition.
Another challenge was the publication process. She published her first article on her biological findings last month (April 2024). It was a long process, as it was difficult to find reviewers willing to take on the task of evaluating the paper.
“Due to the fact that it is a very specific topic and narrow field, many people feel that they do not have enough expertise to review the topic,”
Second place in the competition and publication
Back in the days of the AGH Space Systems research association, Dagmara was the leader of the rocket and balloon experiments section. A few years ago, they won second place in the Space Dynamics Laboratory Payload Challenge, in which they participated.
“It wasn’t a ‘bee’ payload, but one with shrimps. However, it was still in the context of settling on other planets and how animals that might be useful to us there will survive the journey,”
Dagmara adds that this is a huge success for her, as it was her first experience in serious team management.
“And now this publication, in a serious scientific journal,” she adds about the latest success. Microgravity Science and Technology, the journal in which she published her research, is one of Springer’s journals. It specializes in publications related to wide-ranging research conducted in altered gravity.
International Astronautical Congress
Soon, Dagmara is going to one of the largest space events in the world, the International Astronautical Congress, a combination of a trade show of space agencies and space-related institutions and a scientific conference. The event features panels on a variety of topics related to space exploration.Dagmara attended this conference for the first time two years ago in Paris.
“It was the first time I ever saw the topic of searching for extraterrestrial intelligence being taken seriously,” she says of the separate panel dedicated just to this issue. She laughs that she had previously only associated the topic with pseudo-scientific entertainment programs on TV and science-fiction movies.
This year, in Milan, she will give her own presentation. It will be a review of the literature on pollinators, potential extraterrestrial greenhouses, and the data collected so far, as well as the aspects that still need to be addressed.
“I go to conferences a lot. This is one of my favorite aspects of scientific work,” says Dagmara. She greatly appreciates the value of conferences, the opportunity to meet scientists and exchange ideas, as well as the big dose of inspiration. At one conference, she had the opportunity to speak with a professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the university of her dreams. “It was a great pleasure,” she says. In addition to bees, she is also involved in stratospheric balloons. In mid-May 2024, she attended a conference organized by the European Space Agency (ESA), where she spoke specifically about research in stratospheric balloons.
“Exposing one’s research to constructive criticism is amazing. After looking at my research for five years and seeing nothing new, it’s incredible how someone with fresh eyes can point out areas for improvement. That’s the beauty of scientific conferences.”
So what’s in the cosmos?
“The opportunity to explore the unexplored,” says Dagmara, about what fascinates her most about space. She adds:
“Space is one of the few places where we haven’t seriously been before. We haven’t flown to another planet and stayed long enough to metaphorically drink tea there. So that’s the challenge with this.”
She talks about the demanding undertaking for a human being to survive in such extreme conditions. If it weren’t for space, she would be dealing with survival in deep water.
“It’s so close, and so far away from us. The depths still remain a great unknown to us. It is a thrilling subject,”
As a child, she dreamed of being Poland’s first female astronaut. During her education, however, she doubted her technical skills. “Now I’m an engineer, so I guess I was wrong,” Dagmara laughs. She adds, “But it’s never too late to change direction. In the end, I changed direction myself after my master’s degree.”
Future plans
This year, Dagmara will defend her doctorate. After that, she wants to go abroad for a while.
“I need a change of perspective,” she admits. She wants to see what it’s like to work abroad and what the problems and challenges are like there.
“It’s fun to face something new sometimes.”
Dagmara wants to delve deeper into the topic of bees because she sees its necessity and value. In addition to the role of bees as pollinators, she mentions studies that were conducted during the pandemic. They showed that taking care of bees can help reduce the negative effects of loneliness. “Which, in the context of flying as far away as a flight to Mars, will be very important,” she says, emphasizing the need to take care of the crew’s psychological well-being as well. She would also like to establish international collaborations. However, she does not rule out a return to Poland.
“The space sector in Poland is developing literally before my eyes. I can see how much awareness there was before, at the beginning of my PhD, and now that we have a Polish astronaut.”
She notes that Sławosz Uznański, the first Polish astronaut, has significantly influenced how the sector in Poland is perceived. There is growing interest from companies to invest in the Polish space sector, leading to the development of Polish science in these areas.
“It’s cool to see this, and it’s cool to have real hope that someday world-class space endeavors will happen in our country.”
Fot. Unsplash
