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From Pigs to Space: María José Viñas’ Unconventional Journey to Spanish Communicator

Woman with fair skin and brown hair looks off camera and smiles in a field of flowers
María José Viñas, NASA Spanish Communications Lead
NASA / Aubrey Gemignani

Name: María José Viñas
Title: NASA Spanish Communications Lead
Organizations: Headquarters Office of Communications and Goddard Office of Communications.

What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? How do you help support Goddard’s mission?

I am the new point of contact for Spanish language communications for all of NASA. I coordinate the strategy for Spanish language communications and help our people doing these kinds of events. I also help coordinate with external media.

In my role at Goddard, I work very closely with the live shots team, a program based at Goddard that organizes live interviews with TV and radio stations for the agency. I am in charge of coordinating with the Spanish language news media.

What is your educational background?

I was born and raised near Barcelona, Spain. I have the equivalent of a doctorate in veterinary medicine from a Spanish university called Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. I have a bachelor’s degree in journalism from a Spanish university called Universitat Pompeu Fabra. I also have a graduate degree in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Why did you become a veterinarian? What prompted you to move into journalism?

In Spain, the educational system is different from that here. There is no college as Americans know it. When you are in high school, at the age of 16, you go into either the sciences or literature and arts. I went into the sciences because I thought it would be more useful. At 18, you apply to the equivalent of a master’s program, a professional school. I like animals and science, and I was also only 18, so I went into veterinary science.

Woman with brown hair pulled back holds three piglets, two pink and one black.
Viñas working on a pig farm in France in 2001.
Courtesy of M. Viñas

When I was in my third or fourth year of vet school, I already suspected I would not enjoy being a veterinarian, but I told myself that maybe I’d like it more once I was practicing. After finishing my degree, I worked two years in pig farms and doing research in pig illnesses. Although it was interesting and had its rewards, I realized I wouldn’t find joy in this profession in the long run. I thought hard about what I really wanted to do and saw that all my life, what I’ve always liked doing the most has been reading and writing, so  I decided to go back to school to become a journalist. After earning a journalism degree by the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain, I worked for two years covering a variety of topics until I decided to combine my studies and go into science journalism. I received a fellowship from a foundation in Spain called Fundació “La Caixa” to attend UC Santa Cruz in 2006 and earned a graduate degree in science writing.

What was your first job in journalism in the U.S.?

I was a press officer for the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C. I wrote press releases, organized press conferences, did media training and ran their social media.

How did you come to work for NASA Goddard?

In 2011, someone at NASA Headquarters in Washington told me about a job at Goddard working half-time for the Earth Science News Team and half-time for the Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory. I also unofficially helped different groups with Spanish language communications at times.

What did you do for Goddard’s Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory?

I was their in-house science writer from October 2011 to April 2019. I wrote about their research findings and helped them organize press events, among other tasks.

I also supported as a writer one of their main missions, Operation Ice Bridge, an airborne survey of the polar regions that recorded changes in land and sea ice. I especially loved going into the field with the team. I went to Greenland, Alaska, and even Chile to fly over Antarctica. The polar regions are not only breathtakingly beautiful, they are changing very fast. What happens there is already impacting our lives, and will definitely affect the lives of our children.

A woman wearing a red jacket, black pants, a backpack, and spiky shoes is seen from behind, walking along a glacier. There is ice surrounding her on the ground and a mountain in the distance.
Viñas on Kennecott Glacier in Alaska
Courtesy of M. Viñas

How did your new position as NASA’s Spanish Communications Lead come about?

In 2019, I pitched a pilot program to Headquarters to lay the foundations of a coordinated Spanish communications program, and they agreed to fund it. I worked on the pilot program half time for a year and a half while the other half of my time was still dedicated to the Earth Science News Team. Late last year, I was offered a position in the Headquarters Office of Communications to lead Spanish language communications for the agency. Now, for the first time in my nine years at NASA, I am finally able to focus on a single task – Spanish-language communications, even when there’s a lot of variety in the projects I cover now.

What are your goals for the agency’s Spanish language communications program?

I have many goals. I want NASA to reach more of the over 500 million Spanish language speakers in the world. I want to showcase the role of Hispanics in NASA. I want to put more focus on the work NASA does in Latin American and in Spain. My job is not merely translating existing NASA materials, it is creating content tailored to Spanish-speaking audiences, ensuring that a larger audience is aware of both the work NASA is doing and how it affects their lives and of opportunities available at NASA in a variety of disciplines using aeronautics and space-based research.

What is an example of a product you created that is specific to Spanish speaking audiences?

On Feb. 18, 2021, the rover Perseverance will land on Mars. We are creating an hour-long program in Spanish (available Feb. 18, 2021), hosted by a Colombian woman engineer from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California who is part of the Mars 2020 Perseverance team. We have a prerecorded segment with interviews of three Hispanic astronauts, Hispanic members of the Mars 2020 team, an educational segment for kids featuring two Sesame Street Muppets, plus contributions from Hispanic artists and other relevant figures. The live segment will cover EDL or entry, descent and landing, followed by a segment focused on what’s next in Mars exploration.

Please tell us about your work assisting with live shots?

A live shot is a program run from Goddard, which is now doing live shots for the entire agency, that offers media interviews centered around a newsworthy topic. We find experts, coach them and conduct many 10 to 15 minute interviews, mostly with morning TV and radio programs. An entire block of live shots runs about six or seven hours, interview after interview. We have experts both in English and in Spanish.

The live shots already had a Spanish component before I came on board, but they did not have a dedicated producer or a Spanish-speaking expert. I now make sure that all our live shots have a Spanish-speaking expert.

Live shots are stressful and a lot of work, but they are also a fun and very informative. Our participants have a great time working with us. I especially enjoy helping other scientists learn how to communicate better and broader about their research.

Who are your mentors? Who inspires you?

Wade Sisler is one of my mentors. He had the vision before many others to include Spanish-speaking experts in media events to reach a Spanish speaking audience. He helped me develop this new program and he is always very generous with his time and advice.

Also, Patrick Lynch, my first boss at Goddard, is a mentor. He was a fantastic editor when I was writing for him, and as he moved to positions with more responsibility, has also always given me good career and strategy advice.

The entire Earth science team is my inspiration: they are talented and passionate about what they do and I learn from them every day. Many of them are also my friends and our chats have kept me sane during the social isolation due to the pandemic.

As a mentor, what advice do you give?

I like to tell them not to rush or worry too much about the future. Some people in their early 20s are stressed out about their future. They are just starting their careers. I tell them there will be a lot of twists and turns. I tell them about my path and that they should not be in a hurry or so stressed. They should give themselves a break and be flexible. Things may not turn out how you expected them to turn out, but everything will be OK. After all, I am a former veterinarian now leading NASA’s Spanish communication program.

Woman with shirt brown hair wears a black shirt, grey cardigan, and long necklace. She is smiling and standing in front of the centerfuige at Goddard.
Viñas at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Courtesy of M. Viñas

Who is the most interesting, inspiring or amazing person you have met or worked with at Goddard? 

Climate scientists really inspire me. They are studying one of the most relevant stories of our generation and they don’t always get all the support they deserve, yet they persist.

Is there something surprising about you, your hobbies, interests or activities outside of work that people do not generally know?

I like knitting. I listen better during meetings if my hands are occupied, and as a result I’ve made a lot of shawls and sweaters. I also love traveling. Now that I have young children and my family remains in Spain, we generally return there at least twice every year. Someday I would love to set boots on Antarctica. I flew over it, but did not actually land on it.

And of course, I still love animals. I currently have 16 hens, two cats and a cockatiel.

What is your “six-word memoir”? A six-word memoir describes something in just six words.

My path was convoluted but rewarding.

A banner graphic with a group of people smiling and the text "Conversations with Goddard" on the right. The people represent many genders, ethnicities, and ages, and all pose in front of a soft blue background image of space and stars.

Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.

By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

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Last Updated
Nov 06, 2023
Editor
Jessica Evans
Contact
Elizabeth M. Jarrell
Location
Goddard Space Flight Center