MDRS Crew 64
December 22, 2007 - January 6, 2008
Daily Crew Reports

The objectives of crew 64 will be varied and ambitious in their reaches. The talented crew of this mission will begin working as soon as they begin living at the HAB, and will start by working on a diverse set of projects. Among them, our crew botanist will be identifying all plants in the area. There is little evidence that this has been done before. He will be maintaining the plants that have already been planted and will be planting many more.

One experiment will involve doing a survey of the bacteria/fungi found in and about the habitat. Our exogeologist/biologist will be looking for the most contaminated areas. And, he will be using agar plates to determine the effectiveness of the hand sanitizer gels that the crew will be using.

Three crew members are planning to use the telescope, at least in the visual mode. In addition, our exogeologist/biologist wants to determine when and where a crew member could do physical exercise in the habitat. The hab is small; most often, people are moving about inside. Therefore, accommodation for exercise can be a challenge. He wants to develop a short physical test that crew members can do at regular intervals to monitor their cardiovascular condition.

The entire crew wants to test procedures for gathering samples in a manner similar to that recommended by NASA scientists. Furthermore, the crew wants to gather these samples on a relatively inclined slope to test the use of a safety repelling lines. Some of the best samples on Mars may be on such slopes. Hence, this method should be first tested here on Earth. The Research Station may be the best analog to such Martian conditions.

Additionally, the crew will be participating as fully as possible in ongoing science investigations such as scouting out locations where extremophiles may be living. Extremophiles are organisms that grow under very harsh conditions, such as high salt content areas. The crew wants to develop a list of geological references that describe the local geology, and in particular, the geological studies that have been conducted by other crews previous to ours.

The Crew Commander will be conducting research into how emotional intelligence affects crew morale, leadership, cohesion, and selection under conditions of stress and isolation present at the MDRS and present on long duration space exploration missions. Specifically, if the presence of emotionally intelligent crew members and commanders have a stabilizing effect on the crew's emotional state, and their performance and ability to endure long periods of isolation.

One of the other main objectives of this crew is to ensure effective and detailed communication with our support personnel so as to ensure seamless functioning of our progress at the HAB throughout the mission. Along those lines, proper and timely documentation of all procedures and experiments will be provided by our crew journalist. The journalist shall produce a report each night that keeps track of the various crew members' activities parallel to their responsibilities. This will be necessary so as to keep a running log of each day's activities at the habitat. This will be critical so that crews subsequent to ours will know the point at which they need to continue these procedures and experiments.

Lastly, a series of videos will be made that will broaden the message of the importance of the activities at the Mars Desert Research Station to the scientific community, and to the general public at large. By increasing the exposure of the Mars Society's projects, it will become easier to bring about the necessary resources to fulfill the initial plans and dreams of the Society's founders.

Name	Speciality
William Durocher	Commander
Ernesto Caravantes	Crew Journalist
Alicia Malter	Crew Engineer
Yngvild Linnea Andalsvik	Crew Scientist, Health & Safety Officer
Jim Secosky	Crew Biologist/Geologist, Executive Officer
Patrick Lewis	Botanist/GreenHab Specialist

William Durocher	William Durocher is passionate about space exploration. Like many others involved in the MDRS project he was inspired at an early age by the space program. William was also inspired by the documentary "The Mars Underground" and by Dr. Robert Zubin's vision for a human spacefaring civilization and near term manned space exploration. William is a double graduate from the University of Waterloo where he graduated with a BA in Economics and a BIS in Entrepreneurial Leadership. He is currently studying leadership psychology so he can conduct research on emotionally intelligent leadership under conditions of stress and isolation which are characteristic of a manned mars mission, for a PhD. He also has an interest in crew interaction and the psychological effects of long term space exploration. William has gained extensive leadership experience as a Karate instructor, co-founder and COO of the Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, commander of MDRS and as an infantry platoon commander in the Canadian Forces where he serves with 36 soldiers under his command. William's leadership activities and his involvement in his community won him The TD Canada Trust scholarship for outstanding community leadership, a scholarship valued at $60K in 2003. William brings a wealth of experience to the team. His military experience is an asset for working and leading under stress and isolation, as well as giving him proficiency with physically demanding tasks. William has experience with winter warfare and survival through the Canadian Forces which includes spending three weeks conducting military exercises in -40 degrees Celsius is subarctic conditions. This training and his passion for space makes William an ideal for the MDRS and FMARS programs. William's other interests include, teaching Karate, running, trekking and exploring, camping, climbing, and he is currently working towards a private pilot's licence. William hopes to eventually become an astronaut and command a future manned space flight mission to the Moon or Mars. William also would like to be one of the first 100 colonists to live on Mars.
Ernesto Caravantes	Ernesto Caravantes is a native Californian who grew up in Lakewood and Long Beach. He is the only son of Mexican immigrant parents. However, his parents' fascination with aviation and astronautics was quickly adopted by Ernesto. His parents had a profound impact on his choices and accomplishments in his life. This instilled in Ernesto a deep sense of wonder and awe in the scientific accomplishments of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Ever since he was a small boy, Ernesto was fascinated by the workings of rockets and spacecraft. His parents also emphasized the value of getting a higher education in the United States. Thus, Ernesto went on to earn his Bachelor's degree in Psychology from California State University, Long Beach. He then earned his Master's degree in Counseling from the University of La Verne. This year, Ernesto earned a second Master's degree in American History from Lacrosse University. His thesis for the degree was centered on the development and usage of inertial guidance systems on U.S. missiles and NASA space vehicles. Ernesto's life changed when his book was published last year. Entitled, Clipping Their Own Wings, the book focuses on the aspects of culture which hold Latinos back in the area of education. His next book, The Mexican-American Mind, is due out next autumn. Caravantes currently teaches Introductory Psychology at the California School for Culinary Arts in Pasadena, California. Ernesto enjoys spending his free time near the ocean, close to where he grew up, and spending time with those that are close to him. When not serving as a catalyst for educational change to influence an entire culture, you can find Caravantes enjoying an ocean swim, reading, and yes, writing. He currently resides in Southern California.
Alicia Malter	Alicia Malter was born and raised in Australia. Having graduated from the University of Western Sydney with a Bachelor of Space Sciences, Alicia is currently an undergraduate student at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, studying Aerospace Engineering. Alicia's other circum vitae highlights include having attended the Space Station Design Workshop presented by the Institute of Space Systems, work experience for Boeing during high school at QANTAS Jet Base Sydney and working part time during her study at the Victorian Space Science Education Centre, primarily on the Mission to Mars program (www.vssec.vid.edu.au), as well as starting her thesis on a Comet Sample Return Mission using Minimal Propulsion (that may be adapted to Planetary Sample Return). When Alicia is not studying to pursue her career she can be found playing Nintendo with her partner and friends or at the gym trying to escape her chocolate affair.
Yngvild Linnea Andalsvik	Yngvild Linnea Andalsvik was born in Oslo, Norway, has a B.Sc. in Physics and a M.Sc. in Theoretical Physics from the University of Oslo where she was a part of the project "shedding light on dark energy". Her master thesis topic was extra dimensions. She thinks fundamental physics is fascinating and has in addition always had a strong interest in geology. Summer 2006 she participated in "ESA Student Parabolic Flight Campaign" as team leader with an experiment concerning fluid flow in a porous medium. Afterward she presented the the project at the European Low Gravity Research Association (ELGRA) where she was one of the winners of a student contest. In 2006 she also attended NORDITA Master Class in Physics in Hillerød, Denmark and in 2007 the 5th Nordic Winter School in Particle Physics and Cosmology. In addition to several cosmology conferences she participated in the International Astronautical Congress in Bremen, Germany, in 2003, and in Hyderabad, India in 2007 as one of the ESA sponsored students. Yngvild has been Vice President of the Norwegian Association of Physics Students, board member at the Department of Physics, the Norwegian Physics Council and Vice President in the Student Council at the Department of Physics. In her free time she enjoys hiking, traveling and she would love to have more time to practice photography.
Jim Secosky	Jim Secosky was born and raised in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Dark skies led him to become interested in astronomy. He graduated from California State University (in PA) with a B.A. in Secondary Education (Biology), then later earned an M.A. in biology (thesis topic was algae in Sodus Bay, NY) from SUNY at Geneseo. Some summers he worked in a microbiology lab. Other summers, he determined pollution levels in streams by identifying algae. With his son, he taught a mini-course at the Rochester Museum of Science on "How to Drive the Space Shuttle." As an amateur, he won time on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) two times. He produced a series of 8 half-hour programs about HST for the local community access channel; he continues to give presentations about HST. To date the total is over 100. After many years of teaching various science courses at Bloomfield Central School, he retired. In the first 5 years of retirement, he did what he loves--reading 1,000 nonfiction books (a stack as high as a tree). Most recently he constructed a website about Mars using pictures from the Mars Global Surveyor Public Target Program: http://PAWS.flcc.edu/~secoskjj A companion website contains about 100 links to information about Mars: http://geocities.com/everythingaboutmars/ To burn off energy, he has competed in many athletic contests: wrestling, judo, marathons, indoor rowing, and stair races. He lives with his wife, Cheryl, whom he met in college. Their one son, Neil Armstrong Secosky graduated from Colorado School of Mines and now works as a geological engineer. A major family tradition is to take summer trips with two grandchildren (Nick 13 and Dean 9) and their parents to places like D.C. or Disneyworld.
Patrick Lewis	Patrick A Lewis was born 15 August 1964. He attended Wolmer's Boy's High School from 1975 to 1982. In 1987, he received a Bachelor of Science (general) degree with a major in Botany, and minors in Geology and Chemistry. He was employed at the University of the West Indies (Mona) from 1987 to 1990, and has been the Herbarium Curator there from 1992 to the present. He also worked at Barron and Company from 1990 to 1991. Recreational activities include the Jamaica Horticultural Society, Natural History Society of Jamaica, and the Astronomical Association of Jamaica. Gardening and astronomy are among his hobbies, and he is single with no children. He is also a Founding Member of the Mars Society.

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