Courtney Thurston

Courtney, your resume goes on for days, and I am not quite sure how you manage to sleep! Courtney has used her own life experiences and struggles to contemplate how technology can help us improve efficiency, particularly around our nation's food supply. To address agricultural shortages, she is advancing a method called precision agriculture, using data to target pesticide treatments. Already at her age, she has been tapped by organizations like the Office of Naval Research, Aurora Flight Sciences, and NASA Langley. In fact, next summer she already has an internship lined up with SpaceX, where she will be its youngest ever employee. In her quote-unquote spare time, Courtney is an award-winning leader in numerous science competitions and STEM activities, particularly those that advance women in the sciences. Courtney is from Des Moines, Iowa by way of Mechanicsburg, Pa., and will major in computer engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the fall.