Anika Mehlis

As an analog astronaut with the Austrian Space Forum I´m part of an international team conducting analog research with missions in Mars-like areas on Earth. As a scientist at Bielefeld University I work in Public Health, researching how public health departments can raise their organizational health literacy.
During eight years of work as a team lead for infectious diseases control and environmental medicine at a local health department I gained a lot of practical experience in these areas.
I´m also interested in how the sustainable development goals (SDGs) provide a link for and can be furthered by joining space science, public health and environmental technology.
My university education in biology, engineering, my work at an environmental lab and as a lecturer and last but not least my experiences as mother of three daughters provided me with a diverse skill-set.
I am happy to pass on this specialist knowledge, my practical and personal experience and my insights beyond subject boundaries. In doing so, I can adapt myself to the knowledge level and the wishes of the audience, from talks at children's universities, to specialist lectures up to motivational company events. I am enthusiastic about many topics from the fields of science, technology and space travel and I am passionate about sharing this enthusiasm with others.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Mar 2021 - Present Higher Education Research Assistant
Akademie für Öffentliches Gesundheitswesen Düsseldorf
implementation studies in the SORMAS@DEMIS project supporting public health departments in contact person tracement during the Covid-19 pandemic

July 2020 - Present Self-employed
Trainer, Consultant, Keynote speaker, Lecturer

Apr. 2020 – Dec. 2020 Trainer
Code4Space Education Project
project in collaboration with Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems, funded by Google.org and Google Zukunftswerkstatt

Apr. 2020 – Present Trainer
Talents4Space Education Project
project in collaboration with European Space Agency (ESA)/Austrian Space Forum (OeWF)/European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO Austria)

July 2012 – Mar. 2020 Team Leader "infection protection and environmental medicine"
Health Department, District Office Vogtlandkreis, Germany
team management (11 members of staff), prevention and management of infectious diseases, drinking water monitoring, communal hygiene, hospital hygiene, press and public relations, networking, task forces on local, regional and federal state level

Oct. 2011 – July 2014 Lecturer (Biology)
BA Plauen - University of Cooperative Education Plauen, Sachsen, Germany
teaching, supervision of diploma thesis

Oct. 2008 – May 2012 CTA (chemical-technical assistant)
A.W.V. - Dr. Busse GmbH, Plauen, Sachsen, Germany
team and quality management, chemical analysis (CFA, photometry, titration, ICP, ASS)

VOLUNTARY WORK

Jan. 2020 – present Storyteller and Translator
Scheherazade Speaks Science

Aug. 2019 – present Analog Astronaut
Austrian Space Forum (ÖWF), Innsbruck, Austria
- participation in the AMADEE-20 Mission in the Negev Desert, Israel

Apr. 2018 – present Active Member
German Network of Young Professionals in Public Health

Oct. 2015 – Jan. 2016 German Teacher
Integration statt Isolation e.V., Plauen, Germany
teaching German for migrants/asylum seekers

other networks - Membership
German Public Health Association (DGPH)
Health Literacy Network Germany (DNGK)
European Public Health Association (EUPHA)
Deutsche Raumfahrtausstellung Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz e. V. (German Space Travel Exhibition)
Mensa in Deutschland e. V. (MinD)

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Oct. 2017 – present PhD-program in Public Health (Dr.PH)
Bielefeld School of Public Health, Bielefeld University, Germany
- Thesis: "Environmental Health Literacy"

Apr. 2019 – Aug. 2019 Analog Astronaut Training
Austrian Space Forum (ÖWF), Innsbruck, Austria

2010 – Feb. 2014 Diploma in Engineering for Environmental Technology & Recycling
University of Applied Sciences Zwickau, Germany
- Thesis: "Development of a quality management system for phytoplankton analysis";
- passed with distinction
- recipient of the German National Scholarship

Oct. 2001 – Nov. 2006 Diploma in Biology
(Ms. equiv.), focus on microbiology
Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
- Thesis: "Cyclo-di-GMP-coordinated gene-regulation in Escherichia coli“;
- Grade: 1.2; passed with distinction

Sept. 2000 – Oct. 2001 Au Pair, Washington, D.C./USA
Northern Virginia Community College: Advanced Plus Conversational English; Accent Improvement

Sept. 1992 – June 2000 School education
Lessing-Gymnasium Plauen, Germany
- 2000 German High School Diploma, Abitur
- Grade: 1.4

PERSONAL SKILLS

Communication skills

Team work/Leadership: I have worked in various projects in which I gained valuable experience concerning international cooperation as well as building, moderating and maintaining interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder networks. I´m an experienced team-leader with more than ten years of leadership in middle management positions.

Intercultural skills: My career environment (school and professional) and private life has always consisted of people from different cultures and with different nationalities.

Organizational / managerial skills
During my work in a public health department I initiated and coordinated several projects including a scheme for better air quality in classrooms. Through my current self-employed job, I have gained further insights into managing skills. Since I have been working, studying, raising children and doing volunteer work contemporaneously for many years I have excellent time-management as well as self-motivation skills.

Computer skills
In everyday life I work in a Windows environment. I have previously worked with Octware TN.

Other skills
In my free time I enjoy being outdoors, learning new things (e.g. geology field trip with Jena University 07/2019) and spending time with my three kids. Since 2019, I am an Analog Astronaut and attend trainings, missions and other specific activities for the Austrian Space Forum. Apart from that, I enjoy diving, running and reading.

Driving licence B
Diving licence PADI Open Water

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

2020 Mehlis, A., Locher, V., Hornberg, C., 2020. Identifying barriers: interviewing experts about organizational health literacy in public health departments in Germany, IJPH, submitted.

2019 Mehlis, A., Hornberg, C., 2019. Gesundheitskompetenz von Organisationen: Barrieren und Synergien im ÖGD und der Umweltverwaltung. In: 18. Deutscher Kongress für Versorgungsforschung. Berlin, 09.10.2019, online verfügbar https://events.mcon-mannheim.de/frontend/index.php?page_id=4691&v=List&do=15&day=244&ses=6423#, zuletzt abgerufen: 21.01.2020

2017 Mehlis A, 2017. Einsatz von Lüftungsampeln zur Verbesserung der Luftqualität in Kindertageseinrichtungen und Schulen, Epid Bull, 42, pp. 477 – 481, doi: 10.17886/EpiBull-2017-055

2016 Renner, P., Hummel, A., Feuerpfeil, I., Mehlis, A., 2016. Hygienisch-mikrobiologische Untersuchungen eines Fließgewässers (Weiße Elster) im Einzugsgebiet eines Badegewässers (Talsperre Pirk), KW Korrespondenz Wasserwirtschaft, 5, pp. S.287-300. ISSN: 1865-9926

2008 Pesavento, C., Becker, G., Sommerfeldt, N., Possling, A., Tschowri, N., Mehlis, A. and R. Hengge, 2008. Inverse regulatory coordination of motility and adhesion in E.coli, Genes Dev., 22, pp. 2434-2446, doi: 10.1101/gad.475808