About

Welcome! I’m Stephanie Johnston, an aerospace engineer and the creator of Gathering Moonbows. Looking back at the last decade of my career, I realized that a lot of my success as an engineer could actually be attributed to non-engineering skills. Those personal development skills or “soft” skills that benefit anyone, in any career (and that are far from being “soft”). Many of which I wish I had learned much earlier on my engineering journey! Gathering Moonbows was born out of my desire to discuss those skills with you in the hope that they will contribute to your own professional success.

A little bit more about me…

I am currently an engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and I am working with a team of amazing people to build a modern spacesuit that will allow astronauts to perform lunar surface expeditions for NASA’s Artemis Program. While I won’t be discussing the ins and outs of my current position at NASA on this site, you can check out my favorite NASA links here and follow me on LinkedIn for more current space events.

Outside work, I have an ever-changing list of hobbies. I enjoy exploring new places, hiking, kayaking, baking, and a good cup of coffee. I love books of all shapes and sizes, though some of my favorites were written by J.K. Rowling, Jane Austen, Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett (apparently, I love English authors).

Career Path

Check out my detailed career timeline if you want to learn more about my journey.

Mentoring

I believe mentoring to be an incredibly important part of our careers. I created this site because of the questions I’ve received as a mentor and the advice I’ve been given as a mentee.

What’s a Moonbow?

A moonbow is a lunar rainbow – a rare natural phenomenon caused by reflecting and refracting the moon’s light off water droplets in the air, like in the mist of a waterfall. Learn more here.