AWARDS: Navy Commendation Medals (3); National Defense Medal, and Overseas Service Ribbon

EXPERIENCE: During medical school she did active duty training with the Diving Medicine Department at the Naval Experimental Diving Unit in March 1987. After completing medical school, Dr. Clark underwent postgraduate Medical education in Pediatrics from 1987-1988 at Naval Hospital Bethesda, Maryland. The following year she completed Navy undersea medical officer training at the Naval Undersea Medical Institute in Groton Connecticut and diving medical officer training at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, Florida, and was designated a Radiation Health Officer and Undersea Medical Officer. She was then assigned as the Submarine Squadron Fourteen Medical Department Head in Holy Loch Scotland. During that assignment she dove with US Navy divers and Naval Special Warfare Unit Two Seals and performed numerous medical evacuations from US submarines. After two years of operational experience she was designated as a Naval Submarine Medical Officer and Diving Medical Officer. She underwent 6 months of aeromedical training at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute in Pensacola, Florida and was designated as a Naval Flight Surgeon. She was stationed at MCAS Yuma, Arizona and assigned as Flight Surgeon for a Marine Corps AV-8B Night Attack Harrier Squadron (VMA 211). She made numerous deployments, including one overseas to the Western Pacific, practiced medicine in austere environments, and flew on multiple aircraft. Her squadron won the Marine Attack Squadron of the year for its successful deployment. She was then assigned as the Group Flight Surgeon for the Marine Aircraft Group (MAG 13). Prior to her selection as an astronaut candidate she served as a Flight Surgeon for the Naval Flight Officer advanced training squadron (VT-86) in Pensacola, Florida. LCDR Clark is Board Certified by the National Board of Medical Examiners and holds a Wisconsin Medical License. Her military qualifications include Radiation Health Officer, Undersea Medical Officer, Diving Medical Officer, Submarine Medical Officer, and Naval Flight Surgeon. She is a Basic Life Support Instructor, Advanced Cardiac Life Support Provider, Advanced Trauma Life Support Provider, and Hyperbaric Chamber Advisor.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected by NASA in April 1996, Dr. Clark reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. After completing two years of training and evaluation, she was qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. From July 1997 to August 2000 Dr. Clark worked in the Astronaut Office Payloads/Habitability Branch. She is currently assigned to the crew of STS-107 scheduled for launch in 2003.

Here are some excerpts from NASA's official pre-flight interview for STS-107:

I'd like to talk a little about you. Kind of get some idea about your background. And if you were to think about coming up, growing up, what it was about your interests or your surroundings or whatever that put you on the road to NASA? Can you tell us a little bit about that?

I can't think of anything specific growing up that pointed me toward NASA at all. I was interested in the Moon landings just about the same as everyone else of my generation. But, I never really thought about being an astronaut or working in space myself. I was very interested in environment and ecosystems and animals. And that eventually shone through in my interests in zoology as an undergraduate. And then [I] decided to pursue medicine. I joined the Navy and was exposed to a lot of different operational environments, working on submarines and working in tight quarters on ships, and learning about radiation medicine. And it was really just sort of a natural progression when I learned about NASA and what astronauts do, and the type of things that they are expected to do, that I thought about the things I had done so far and became more interested in that as a career.

I understand youas part of your duties as a flight surgeon, you've done some submarine rescues, or what was that all about?

Well, as part of the Navy, you're expected after you do your initial training, to do operational medicine. The Navy's paid for you to [go] through school, and then they need doctors to go out and take care of people who are in various different parts of the world working. I decided to pay back my time first as an undersea medical officer. And that's where I was involved with submarines and with divers. And the submarines that we serviced were out of Holy Loch, Scotland. I was stationed in Scotland myself. And while submarine crews, like astronauts, are selected from a pool of people who turn out to be very healthy, in the end, they select people. If you have medical problems, then you're not allowed to continue in the submarine service because you're out at sea for long periods of time. Even still, things happen. People get appendicitis and can get infections. And there were certain times when I had to be involved in getting people off the submarine and getting them to hospitals for further medical care.

So that must have been pretty interesting, I guess.

It was very interesting. It was usually, well, every case was different. But, certainly there's so many different factors involved that you don't think about until you're there. But, there can be weather. If you're trying to get someone who's sick with a fever off of a submarine and it's cold and raining outside, and then you've got to get them off of the submarine (they're not able to walk), and the only way in and out of a submarine, generally, is through a fairly narrow hatch. So, you have to be able to transport them without hurting them or anyone else who's trying to move them off of the submarine. And then, once you get them off the submarine, you still have to get them onto another ship, then to land-- You're doing all of this in a different country, with a different medical system. So, it was very interesting. It was very rewarding, though.

Outside of your time with NASA, can you fill us in on maybe what's been the most enjoyable period of time in your life?

Well other than motherhood (motherhood's been incredible, and I tell my son all the time that my most important job is being his mother), but other than that, the eight years that I spent at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, I have incredibly fond memories of. I did my undergraduate work there in zoology. And then followed it up with the four years in medical school. And it's a beautiful place, with four seasons up in Wisconsin. And really wonderful people. And although the undergraduate university in particular is a fairly large school, each of the teachers took an inordinate amount of time and interest in their students. And provided a quality education. And it was the first time away from home for me. So, it was learning who I am and kind of fostering your independence. And at the same time, having an incredible academic and intellectual you know--experience.

We're all inspired at some point by someone or something. Can you give us an idea of what or who has inspired you? Or still does?

Well, again, I can't think of any one person or any one particular event. But certainly my parents were a huge influence. They always expected the most out of all of us. And expected us to do our very best. And yet, never told us what we had to do or even really told us what they expected [of] us, other than to be good people in general. But they were very content to let us pursue the path we wanted to pursue as long as we were doing the best job that we were capable of doing. And I think they did that without ever saying it. Because they never sat me down and said those words. But, it was conveyed in a very clear way. So, I'm thankful to them for allowing me to do what I wanted to do. And yet, pushing me to be the best person that I could be.

Not having flown on a spaceflight, can you think of anything that you've done in your life that may be even close to what you imagine spaceflight to be like?

Well, I can't think of anything that's as exciting as I'm sure this mission will be, and actually being in space. But, we did some training as a crew together with the National Outdoor Leadership School. And although we thought it would be a great opportunity to learn some things, I don't think any of us had any idea how many similarities there would be to the spaceflight. We were out in the wilderness for about 10 days. And we spent a whole lot of time together as a team solving problems. And without any other outside influences, which is similar to the way it'll be in space. So, there was some relative isolation. We didn't have cell phones or any other way to talk to anyone other than the crew. Obviously, because we're camping in a back wood primitive area, you have to carry everything that you need on your back. You have to manage the stuff that you've got. You're constantly packing and unpacking, and making sure that you know where everything is. Up in space, everything floats. And if you aren't really careful about where you put things, before you know it, you won't know where your favorite pen is or where your toothbrush is. So, you have to really take care of yourself and all of your things. You're on a specific diet, because obviously you're eating the food that you brought with you. And also there's some different hygiene issues. You're not able to just jump in the shower the same way you do at home. So there were just a whole lot of things that were similar. And it was a very positive experience to work together and work through learning more about each other and our different strengths and weaknesses, and covering those for each other. And as a team, really performing well and getting to know each other more. And I think that, although it wasn't the same as a spaceflight, it was certainly a great learning opportunity, and made me feel even better about going ahead and doing this.