Connected interview: Fionnghuala O’Reilly, scientist, broadcaster and beauty queen

Fionnghuala O’Reilly tells us about life as a datanaut, reporter, beauty queen and more

Fionnghuala, or Fig, O’Reilly: ‘Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of role models in the media I could look up to‘

Fionnghuala O’Reilly defies definition. For starters, she’s a scientist, a Nasa datanaut, an advocate, a model, an educator, a broadcaster, Irish, American and an entrepreneur. She goes by Fionnghuala or Fig, depending on the circumstances.

Nailing down her home town is a challenge – she was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky, but left when she was two years old as the family moved around with her father’s job in the US military.

We are speaking ...