Caltech Neuroscientist Joins Cast of Reality TV Show

Michelle Noonan thinks she has an interesting job. So when she was forwarded a Craig’s List online posting for a casting-call advertisement searching for people with interesting jobs, she just had to inquire.

Turns out, the postdoctoral chemistry scholar at Caltech auditioned to join the cast of the CBS reality show Big Brother — and she got the part, according to the famed technical university and the Associated Press.

“You don’t see too many scientists on reality TV,” Noonan told the Associated Press in an interview. “I want to be a fun example of a real-life scientist that’s not a stereotype. I’m not the typical nerd you would see on a show like Beauty and the Geek. There are actually many female scientists, but you never see them on TV. Hopefully, I can be an inspiration to girls interested in science.”

Now in its 11th season on CBS, Big Brother features 13 house guests competing for a $500,000 grand prize. On the show, contestants compete against each other to be the “last person standing” while being monitored by dozens of camera inside a makeshif two-story house built on a sound stage.

According to CBS, the 27-year-old Noonan will be competing against a surfer, a bikini model, a “World of Warcraft” gamer, a tae kwon do champion, a fifth-grade teacher, and a freelance journalist.

The reality show, which airs on CBS 2 locally, will premier at 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 9.