Fatigue Countermeasure Laboratory @ NASA Ames

Below you will find a listing of lab personnel and visiting scholars. You will also find information about our Summer Internship program.



		Erin Flynn-Evans, Ph.D., MPH Fatigue Countermeasure Laboratory Director Phone- (650) 279-3459 Email- erin.e.flynn-evans@nasa.gov > Awards/Publications/CV Dr. Flynn-Evans received a PhD in Health and Medical Science from the University of Surrey (Guildford, UK), with a focus in circadian physiology, and an MPH in Clinical Effectiveness from Harvard School of Public Health (Boston, MA), with a focus in biostatistics. She was awarded a pre- and post-doctoral fellowship from the Harvard Medical School Division of Sleep Medicine training program in Sleep, Circadian and Respiratory Neurobiology and was an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School prior to joining NASA. Dr. Flynn-Evans' research involves investigating and deploying cutting-edge science and technology to manage and mitigate fatigue in spaceflight, aviation and other high-pressure occupations. Her approach involves conducting laboratory experiments to investigate the impact of interventions on sleep and circadian physiology and to evaluate new technologies. Once new intervention strategies and tools have been evaluated under controlled conditions, her team conducts field research to determine how new intervention approaches translate to operations. This combination of laboratory and field research allows her team to directly translate basic science findings into practical solutions for mitigating fatigue-related performance error in occupational cohorts. Dr. Flynn-Evans has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and has been an invited speaker at many national conferences and meetings. In 2016, she was awarded the NASA Early Career Achievement Medal.



		Kevin Gregory Senior Research Associate Phone- (650) 604-6441 Email- kevin.b.gregory@nasa.gov > Awards/Publications/CV Mr. Gregory is a senior researcher in the Fatigue Countermeasures Lab. Mr. Gregory has over 30 years of experience in scientific research and data analysis with an emphasis on sleep, circadian rhythms, an operational performance. He has particular interests in translating results into practical tools and knowledge for fatigue management and mitigation and improving operational safety. He previously worked at NASA as a member of the original Jetlag "Z-team" lab and also served as a principle at Alertness Solutions, a scientific consulting firm. He has co-authored more than 20 scientific journal articles and technical reports and presented at industry meetings such as the Business Aviation Safety Seminar, the Air Medical Transport Conference and the International Conference on Managing Fatigue.

		Lucia Arsintescu, M.A. Senior Research Associate Phone- (650) 604-4653 Email- lucia.arsintescu-1@nasa.gov > Awards/Publications/CV Lucia Arsintescu (San Jose State University Foundation) is a Senior Research Associate. She received her medical degree from School of Medicine, Bucharest, Romania and her master degree in Experimental Psychology from San Jose State University, San Jose. She has been engaged in research investigating the performance effects of sleep deprivation in operational environments.

		Cassie Hilditch, Ph.D. Senior Research Associate Email- cassie.j.hilditch@nasa.gov > Awards/Publications/CV Cassie Hilditch joined the Fatigue Countermeasures Lab in May 2018 having undertaken post-doctoral training with the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Sleep for Science Research Lab of Brown University. Prior to moving to the US, Cassie completed her doctoral degree at the University of South Australia and worked as a fatigue research consultant in the UK. Cassie has over a decade of human sleep research experience ranging from tightly-controlled inpatient studies, to logistically-challenging field studies across a range of population groups, industries, and countries. Passionate about research with an applied focus, her primary research interests include discovering and developing countermeasures to fatigue-related performance impairment.

		Crystal Kirkley Research Associate Phone- (650) 604-0968 Email- crystal.l.kirkley@nasa.gov > Awards/Publications/CV Crystal Kirkley joined the Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory in May 2017. She has a background in Human Factors and Ergonomics engineering, military aviation, and construction management. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Science degree in Human Factors and Ergonomics Engineering at San Jose State University. She is interested in improvement of human performance and team dynamics in elite operational teams as they encounter isolating, confined, and extreme situations. Additionally, she collaborates within the Human Systems Integration Division on the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) to investigate chronic sleep restriction on cognitive performance.

		Nathan Feick Research Associate Phone- (650) 604-2505 Email- nathan.h.feick@nasa.gov > Awards/Publications/CV Nathan Feick joined the Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory in December of 2015 as an interning master's student at San Jose State University. He brings prior medical experience in addition to his Human Factors background. Nathan leads work on developing and evaluating tests of cognitive function in the Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory.

		Nicholas Bathurst Research Associate Phone- (650) 604-0795 Email- nicholas.g.bathurst@nasa.gov > Awards/Publications/CV Nick Bathurst joined the Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory as a project associate in 2018. He received his MA in Experimental and Research Psychology at San Jose State University. He has a strong background in statistics and data analysis. His research interests include motivation, gamification, education, and evolutionary psychology. Since working in the FCL, he has a growing interest on the effects of monochromatic light exposure on circadian rhythm. On his spare time, he enjoys raising his daughter, gaming, gardening, and fishing.

		Zach Glaros Research Associate Phone- (650) 604-2700 Email- zachary.l.glaros@nasa.gov > Awards/Publications/CV Zach joined the Fatigue Countermeasures Lab in the Fall of 2018 as a contractor from the San Jose State Research Foundation, who was converted to civil servant from the NASA Pathways program in the Fall of 2019. He is currently pursuing his MA in Research and Experimental Psychology at San Jose State University. During his time at Ames, he aided in various experiments lead by fellow team members, as well as conducted his thesis for his graduate program. The topic for his thesis was evaluating mission control operations from a fatigue risk management perspective, in hopes of providing recommendations to future NASA space missions.

		Rachel Jansen, Ph.D. Research Associate Email- rachel.a.jansen@nasa.gov > Awards/Publications/CV Rachel Jansen joined the Fatigue Countermeasures Lab in November 2021 after receiving her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. In graduate school, she primarily studied perceptions of mathematics using cognitive modeling and developmental psychology approaches. She now applies her work on modeling metacognition to sleep in astronauts and pilots and brings her skills in data analysis and working with large datasets to the lab’s existing projects. She attended space camp as a kid and hopes to make use of her cognitive science subject matter expertise to improve conditions for sleep in space.

		Sean Pradhan, Ph.D. Project Associate Email- sean.pradhan@menlo.edu > Awards/Publications/CV Sean joined the Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory in 2017. He earned his Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Psychology at San Francisco State University and his Master of Arts (MA) in Research & Experimental Psychology at San José State University. He attained his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Sport Management at the University of Michigan. Sean’s research interests include examining player and team performance, sports fan behavior, as well as sponsorship and other league initiatives in the context of social and consumer psychology. More recently, he has begun to bridge his work in the Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory with his background in sport management by investigating the effects of travel and game schedules on performance in various sports leagues, such as the National Basketball Association (NBA).



The Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to engage in a variety of research projects. These summer internships last 10-12 weeks beginning in June and ending in August. This summer we will be conducting a study to evaluate countermeasures to help people sleep and to help improve alertness. When individuals work in safety-sensitive occupations, such as in spaceflight and long-haul aviation, sleep opportunities may not occur at optimal times. Similarly, it may be necessary for such individuals to perform cognitively demanding tasks following insufficient sleep and during the night. As a result, people in safety sensitive occupations need tools and strategies that they can use to help them fall asleep and stay asleep and to maintain alertness when they are awake. To test such tools and strategies, we will study participants who will live in our laboratory for a few days. While in the lab, participants will wear electrodes to measure their brain activity while they are awake and asleep, they will provide saliva and urine samples so that we can assess their hormones, and they will take frequent cognitive tests so that we can assess their alertness and performance. Interns will assist with all aspects of data collection during these overnight sleep studies including preparing study materials, interacting with study participants, applying electrodes, monitoring sleep and waking, administering cognitive tests, and collecting biological specimens. The intern will also assist with data analysis and processing of cognitive performance and sleep data. Importantly, interns will be required to work overnight and weekend shifts (but never more than 40 hours a week) during the internship. Each intern will have the opportunity to attend lectures and seminars on a variety of topics at NASA Ames Research Center. Interns will also participate in weekly lab meetings and will present a journal club article once during the summer. Finally, each intern will choose a topic to investigate (this could be an analysis of existing data or a literature review on a new topic) and will write an abstract and present a poster at NASA at the end of the summer. No prior experience is necessary; however, the best candidates will be open to new experiences and learning new things, able to work independently and with a team, punctual, and reliable. If you are interested in an internship with the Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory, please use the online application form below. * NOTE- This online application is administered by San Jose State University (San Jose State University Privacy Policy). > Summer Internship Online Application Form > Summer Internship Flyer (Microsoft Word) > Check out some of our previous summer interns and their projects!