Alessandra Valeria Lopez Menjivar

BROOKE OWENS FELLOW INTERN

Alessandra Valeria Lopez Menjivar (she/her) is a rising senior at Williams College, where she studies Astrophysics and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. As a 2025 Brooke Owens Fellow, she’s spending the summer at the Aurelia Institute working on modular space structures that are built with both people and long-term use in mind.

Valeria is supporting work on TESSERAE, a system of magnetic tiles that can self-assemble into shapes in space. She’s especially interested in how this kind of technology can be designed to meet real human needs in orbit. Her role draws on her background in physics, education, and advocacy, as well as her interest in making space more inclusive and accessible.

Valeria grew up in Honduras, where there were few resources to explore space, but plenty of curiosity. Since then, she’s researched telescope history at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, modeled active galaxies at Princeton University, and worked with students in Guatemala City through her nonprofit, NINE hub, which brings astronomy education to places without formal programs.

At Williams, she leads design work with the Robotics Club, runs public stargazing events with the P.U.L.S.A.R. Astronomy Club, and started Wavelength, a group focused on inclusion in physics and astronomy. She also teaches students how to use 3D printers, CAD software, and other tools at the campus Makerspace.

In winter 2025, she spent time in the Moroccan Sahara as a Gaudino Fellow, where she began writing her first children’s book inspired by science and storytelling. She’s also contributing to the MIT Science Policy Review, writing about how big telescope projects can affect local and Indigenous communities.

At Aurelia, Valeria is excited to combine her technical skills and social perspective to help imagine better, more thoughtful ways of living and working in space.