MDRS Crew 44
January 29 - February 11, 2006

Name	Speciality
Melissa Battler	Commander
Ryan Kobrick	Executive Officer
André Dunford	Crew Geologist
John Thaler	Crew Biologist
Danielle Cormier	Chief Engineer
Jonathan Martin	Crew Researcher, Energy Utilization
Lealem Mulugeta	Crew Field Engineer
Kevin Sandell	Crew Field Engineer, HSO

Melissa Battler	Melissa Battler was born in Kitchener Ontario, and is currently working on her M.Sc. in Planetary Geology at the University of New Brunswick's Planetary and Space Science Centre, in cooperation with the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT) and Electric Vehicle Controllers (EVC). She is developing an anorthositic lunar regolith simulant, to help validate the design of lunar excavation equipment for upcoming missions to the Moon. During the summer of 2004 she attended NASA Ames Astrobiology Academy, where she began working on a Mars Drilling Project, MARTE, and during the fall of 2005 she traveled to Spain to work as a Science Team member during the MARTE Mars Mission Simulation. She has served on two analog missions at MDRS in Utah; as Crew Geologist on Expedition One (Crew 14), during which she collected data for her Geology Honours Thesis on Mars Analog Concretions, and as Research Manager/Science Instructor on Expedition Alpha (Crew 30). She is a Canadian Space Agency Student Ambassador, President of Mars Society Canada, co-chair of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG)'s Young Lunar Explorer's committee, Director of the Interstellar Electromagnetics Institute, founder of the Waterloo and Fredericton Space Societies, Director of Academic Relations for the 2004 Canadian Student Summit on Aerospace, and a member of both the Association of Mars Explorers and the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) Remote Science Team. She enjoys yoga, hiking, camping, rock-climbing, ice-climbing, SCUBA diving, and is working on her pilot's license.
Ryan Kobrick	Ryan Kobrick was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on a full moon and a solar cycle maximum with the good fortune of being a dual citizen (Canada and USA). Inspired by the beauty of the stars at an early age, he knew that he wanted to voyage into space. Ryan received his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario in 2002, his Master's of Space Studies degree from the International Space University in Strasbourg, France in 2003, and his Master's of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University in 2005. Now, Ryan is at the University of Colorado at Boulder working on his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences (Bioastronautics) on portable life support systems (spacesuits) technology development. He has worked with the X PRIZE Foundation developing the follow-on event to the $10 million ANSARI X PRIZE called the X PRIZE CUP, which will bring competing spaceship builders to New Mexico to compete in different flight categories. Ryan participated in his first MDRS rotation with Crew 25 from February 29 to March 14, 2004. His University of Colorado at Boulder start was in the summer of 2005 researching portable life support systems with Dr. Klaus on a NASA-funded project. He is part of the Bioastronautics Research Group and is also working with BioServe Space Technologies. Ryan's passion for enabling humans to fly into space stems from his own ambitions of one day becoming an Astronaut, or Cosmonaut, or... Canuckonaut! Ryan has strived towards that goal and worked to make a positive impact on society through the exploration and research of space. Visit Ryan's CU-Boulder Homepage here.
André Dunford	André Dunford Born and raised in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, André Dunford completed an undergraduate degree in Earth Sciences at Lakehead University in 2001, after which he took part in a short paleoclimate field study in southern Siberia, looking at loess deposits of central Asia. After spending the following year in Austria studying the German language, André returned to Lakehead and completed an H.B.Sc. degree in Geology (2003) focusing on geochemical weathering trends of mafic volcanic and sedimentary rocks in the Neo-Archean Era. In 2003-2004 André spent a year working on various economic nickel exploration programs with Falconbridge Ltd. including reconnaissance mapping of Proterozoic ultramafic intrusive and volcanic rocks in the territory of Nunavut. André is currently living in Austria, and completing an M.Sc. degree in Geological and Planetary Sciences at the University of Vienna. His research is focused on the discovery of terrestrial impact craters in northern Africa via radar and multispectral satellite data.
John Thaler	John Thaler was born in Burkina Faso, Africa. He has always been interested in travelling to distant places and is intent on becoming an astronaut in order to be one of Canada's first ambassadors to another planet. John is a fourth-year Biology student at Mount Allison University, New Brunswick. He is currently working on his honours thesis, characterizing the metabolism of marine amphipods on the Bay of Fundy, specifically Gammarus sp. John has also done research on organic constituents in meteoroid material, and computational chemistry on locked sugars for use in therapeutic oligonucleotide design. John's fascination with space was sparked by reading science fiction novel's by the great author's Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, and Kim Stanley Robinson. On campus John is involved in the Mount Allison Leadership Development program, writes for the student newspaper, The Argosy, and volunteers with SMILE, a local, student run program for children with special needs. He is a certified SCUBA diver and is an avid cycler. He enjoys whitewater kayaking, reading, camping and swing dancing.
Danielle Cormier	Danielle Cormier works for the Canadian Space Agency as a Flight Controller for the Robotics Systems of the International Space Station. She is one of the eight Canadian members of the NASA group that plans and executes operations for the Space Shuttle and Space Station Robotics systems. Having grown up looking at the stars and dreaming of outer space in the small town of Amos, in northwestern Quebec, Danielle got her degree in Mechanical Engineering from the École Polytechnique de Montréal. She subsequently started at the Canadian Space Agency as a co-op student, which led to the position that she currently occupies.
Jonathan Martin	Jonathan Martin was born in Mission Viejo, California in 1980, but spent almost the entirety of his childhood living in Southern Oregon. It was there that he acquired his love and respect for nature. Most of his formative years were spent enjoying the outdoors in various ways, participating in almost any sport that fielded a team, hiking, camping, backpacking, white water rafting, and skiing. His fascination with Mars developed through years of staring through a telescope with his father and enjoying scores of science fiction novels and movies. He received his B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Mathematics from Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles, as a member of the Honors College. The Jesuit tradition (service, education and leadership) played an important role in shaping his outlook in life. He moved to Canada in 2002 to complete an M.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering as part of the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic) at the University of Victoria, where his research and education focused on energy systems, with the focus specifically on fuel cell technology. He currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he is in part responsible for both hydrogen and direct methanol fuel cell design and testing protocols for the National Research Council - Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation.
Lealem Mulugeta	Lealem Mulugeta was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia but has lived over half his life Winnipeg, Manitoba. He graduated with a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering (Aerospace Option) from University of Manitoba. As an undergraduate, Lealem spent several years researching the effect of microgravity on liquid metals and implementing ground-based liquid diffusion research in preparation for future microgravity studies aboard the International Space Station. As part of his research activities he also designed and developed experimental apparatus for use in the ATEN furnace aboard the International Space Station. Lealem now works at Magellan Bristol Aerospace as a Design Engineer with the Space Systems Engineering group where he is helping to design and build Canada's multi-mission Small Satellite (SmallSAT) platform (current SmallSAT project: CASSIOPE). Lealem is planning to enter graduate studies in the near future in areas related to Space Exploration and/or Space Systems Engineering. His other areas of interest include spacecraft dynamics and space structures. He also recently retired from competitive gymnastics (May 2005), but still actively involves himself in the sport to maintain a high level of fitness.
Kevin Sandell	Kevin Sandell. born in Nova Scotia and brought up as an "air force brat", my interests in flying began at an early age and my fascination with space exploration began with an early interest in science fiction. I received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1993 from Carleton University with a major in Computer Mathematics. I also hold a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer certification. I have always had an adventurous spirit. Back in the Air Cadets, I received my Private Glider and Private Fixed Wing licenses and more recently a Commercial Helicopter License. I am also a Padi Certified diver with my most notable trip being the reefs surrounding Belize. Currently I own my own computer consulting business here in Ottawa Canada. I am an avid cyclist in the summer and enjoy down hill skiing during the winter months.