UNC Alumna And Astronaut Trainee Zena Cardman Revels In The Poetry Of Outer Space Posted Nov 11, 2019 Zena Cardman knew she might not have another opportunity to pursue poetry. She was about to dive into graduate research on microbiology in extreme environments when she put that plan on ice, and opted to write a poetry collection for her undergraduate thesis at the University of North Carolina. Cardman was naturally attracted to space exploration. (WUNC)