–by Sylvania AdVantage Staff
PUBLICATION DATE: Sep 1, 2020

As careers in the sciences grow for young women, Sylvania resident Tiare Nicholas-Bublick plans to take full advantage of the opportunities—and fortunately science is also her passion, so she’s already well suited to embrace the challenges.
Nicholas-Bublick, a senior, is the leader of the St. Ursula Academy (SUA) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) team that is currently involved in a NASA competition for students. The challenge is to create wearable radiation countermeasures for deep space exploration. The garment that the team designed for astronauts could be worn on the Artemis voyage to Mars in 2024 if the SUA team advances in the competition. The students hope to present their design to NASA officials in person.
For the NASA competition, Nicholas-Bublick and her teammates designed a garment which resembles a long down vest and uses recyclable polyethylene pellets packed into mesh pockets to cover the exterior. The team placed a solar particle eruption (SPE) detector under the pockets to warn the astronauts if any radiation would seep through. A special feature of the garment is its ability to be multifunctional; it can transform to serve as a blanket, pillow, room divider/privacy curtain, bag or cover for any object. Astronauts could also use the garment in a variety of ways after landing on Mars, such as creating a greenhouse covering or protecting other tools and technologies from radiation.
Already in the second round of competition, the team will learn if it has advanced by the end of August.
Nicholas-Bublick has always been drawn to science. She especially enjoys biology, oceanography and space exploration. “The complexity of it all is just so fascinating to me and sparks so much curiosity,” she said. For her future career, she intends to focus on veterinary science. She has already spent many hours volunteering at veterinary clinics, most often at locations in the Cook Islands, where she visits family every summer. There, she has assisted in surgeries, x-rays, and dental procedures on a variety of animals.
Outside of her work as a veterinary volunteer and STEM leader, Nicholas-Bublick is an avid athlete. A cross-country runner for SUA, she also finds time to teach self-defense classes to her classmates and karate to children at Sylvania Family Karate. She holds a second-degree black belt in American Karate.
This well-rounded student also co-leads the Earth Club and is a member of the Ambassador Society and National Honor Society. She plans to attend Hillsdale College next fall.
A graduate of St. Joseph Parish School Sylvania, she is the daughter of Dr. Selena Nicholas-Bublick and Matt Bublick.