As a college student, Calandrelli worked at NASA as an intern. Her work at NASA included designing the simulation for the
Phoenix Mars Lander's soil testing experiment, research on the use of
lasers to reduce harmful emissions from jet engines, and developing chemical detection sensors. Calandrelli is a professional speaker and presents on the topics of space exploration, scientific literacy, and gender equality in STEM (
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). She is a
TEDx speaker and a contributing writer at
TechCrunch. Additionally, Calandrelli is a
Brooke Owens Fellowship Mentor. Calandrelli started a career in science communication when she became a host of
Xploration Outer Space in
Fox's
Xploration Station educational block in 2014. On August 25, 2020, Calandrelli's educational
Netflix series titled ''
Emily's Wonder Lab'' debuted. Calandrelli filmed the series while 9 months pregnant. Calandrelli is known as "The Space Gal" online. She has given presentations at Google,
Pixar, MIT,
Texas Instruments, and K-12 schools and universities across the United States. She was invited by the
White House to perform educational science experiments at the
Easter Egg Roll in 2023 and 2024. She has written the
Ada Lace series of chapter books to introduce youth to science and technology and the picture book
Reach for the Stars (2022), illustrated by Honee Jang. She also authored two books of science experiments designed for children. She is a paid influencer for the propane industry, according to
Propane Education and Research Council (PERC) documents. In July 2024, Calandrelli announced that she will be a passenger on a
New Shepard flight to space. == Awards ==