MDRS Crew 56
Mars Society Canada ExGamma
January 7 - 20, 2007

Name	Speciality
Ryan Kobrick	Commander
John Thaler	Executive Officer
Brogan Hetrick	Chief Engineer
Seth Koterba	EVAS Engineer
Anna Grinberg	Field Engineer/HSO
Adrienne Kish	Biologist
B. Liz Gauthier	Human Factors Researcher
Cassandra Marion	Geologist

Ryan Kobrick	Ryan Kobrick received his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from 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. 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 annually to compete in different flight categories. Ryan participated as a crewmember in the Mars Society's Mars Desert Research Station as the Health & Safety Officer (MDRS Crew 25) from February 29 to March 14, 2004 and again as Executive Officer (Crew 44 / ExBeta) from February 11 to 26, 2006. He will be a participant of a four-month FMARS mission in 2007. His CU-Boulder start was in the summer of 2005 researching portable life support systems (spacesuits) with Dr. Klaus on a NASA-funded project. Ryan's current Ph.D. focus is on advanced spacesuit technologies that will aid with dust mitigation on the lunar surface, Mars, and beyond. Ryan remains active in space outreach as the External Liaison Officer for the CU-Boulder chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), and as an advisor for both SEDS Canada and Mars Society Canada's Exploration Mars (ExMars) Program. Read Ryan's CV here.
John Thaler	John Thaler was born in Burkina Faso, Africa, and 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 a celestial object. John is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Calgary and is working on the concurrent effects of gender specific hormones and mechanical stimulation on gene expression in human bone and connective tissue cells. He completed his Bachelor's degree in Biology at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. His undergraduate honours thesis was the metabolic characterization of Gammarus finmarchicus, a marine amphipod from the Bay of Fundy. John participated as the crew biologist of Crew 44/ ExBeta in February 2006 at MDRS. His research project during the training expedition examined the diversity of halophilic microorganisms in hypersaline environments in the MDRS area. John has recently spent his summer learning French, initially with the Explore program in Saskatoon and then in France at the Institut Catholique de Paris. As acting president of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) Canada, John is working to rejuvenate this group's efforts to unite students interested in space exploration. He is a certified SCUBA diver and during his spare time enjoys whitewater kayaking, reading, camping and swing dancing.
Brogan Hetrick	Brogan Hetrick was born in Texas, in 1979, but didn't live there long. He spent most of his life between Colorado and Florida, but has moved around a lot. After high school, Brogan joined the US navy, and worked as a nuclear operator on submarines for six years. Since then, he has been working towards obtaining a BS in Nuclear Engineering Technologies, from Thomas Edison State College, and a BS in Marketing, from Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). He hopes to attend the International Space University to work on his masters degree, when he is finished with his undergraduate studies. While at FGCU, he started a space advocacy and science education outreach group, the Eagle Space Society. This student run organization works to ensure future generations are educated and inspired about space travel. One of the things Brogan enjoys most in life is traveling. He has visited 44 US states and more than 30 counties. He also enjoys teaching, learning, reading, philosophy, music (both listening to and performing), swimming, biking, rock climbing, sailing, and sitting at Starbucks drinking coffee.
Seth Koterba	Seth Koterba was born in a small Montana town near the conjunction of Montana, North Dakota, and Saskatchewan. After high school, he went to college at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. While at Concordia, Seth developed a passion for international travel and earned bachelors degrees in mathematics and physics. Near the end of his undergraduate career Seth had a number of experiences, including a very positive experience at the NASA Academy, which helped rekindle his childhood interest in space. Today he is a graduate student in robotics at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University where he works on multi-robot coordination specifically applied to space applications such as on orbit construction. His dream is to develop robots that will be used to aid or replace astronauts in assembly, inspection, and maintenance of space structures. In this personal life Seth is very active. He recently bought a house with his wife and has been working to remodel his basement and 2nd bathroom. Recreationally, Seth is active in a number of sports, is a member of the CMU Robotics Club, the CMU EMS Team, and enjoys spending time with his wife and socializing with friends.
Anna Grinberg	Anna Grinberg is a Masters of Science student studying human physiology at the University of Waterloo. Her specific interests are space physiology and real time operations related to preserving astronaut health, such as internal habitation conditions (dust, microbiology), exercise and countermeasures, and extra-vehicular activity operations. Childhood dreams of being an astronaut led to her complete an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at the University of Waterloo. During this time she completed internships at various aerospace and space companies, including MDA, the home of the Canadarm, and discovered the field of space physiology while volunteering in the University of Waterloo's Cardiovascular Dynamics Physiology Laboratory. Following graduation and a trip through Asia, she moved to Strasbourg France to complete a Masters degree at the International Space University. One of the highlights was a trip to Russia, and touching Yuri Gargarin's space capsule. As part of her degree requirements, she completed an internship at the European Astronaut Center, where she had the opportunity to assist in real-time medical operations for Thomas Reiter's flight on the ISS. Spending part of her childhood in Saudi Arabia, she grew a love for traveling (and airplane food). To date, she's traveled to 40 different countries, and had the opportunity to live in Latvia, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, and her home, Canada. Spurred by a love for mountains, she began mountaineering at the age of 16 on Mount Kilimanjaro. She is an active musician, having played double bass with various orchestras and singing in her car.
Adrienne L. Kish	Adrienne L. Kish is a 27 year old Canadian who's been dreaming of working on space projects since she was 6 years old. She was (and still is!) the geeky kid who went to Space Camp and Space Academy, looked at the rings of Saturn through telescopes, and watched the closest approaches of Mars with great anticipation. She's had the good fortune of being able to work at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in the Advanced Life Support group proving her true love of all things that have flown in space by sampling the microbial content of the volume F trash from the space shuttle. She holds a BSc in Honours Biology from the University of Victoria in Canada, a Masters of Space Studies from the International Space University in France, and is currently working on completing her PhD in Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Maryland in the USA focusing on applications to the interdisciplinary field of astrobiology. Her work looks at the survival capabilities of extremeophiles, investigating at the molecular mechanisms for protection against and repair of oxidative damages to cellular components caused by exposure of a model halophile to ionizing radiation. When she's not in the lab, she is an avid downhill skier, enjoys hiking trips through the mountains, traveling, going to the movies, and yoga.
B. Liz Gauthier	B. Liz Gauthier has been in school since the dawn of time (so it seems anyway). She received a B.S. in Physics and a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Utah in May 2005. She is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Colorado (expected 12/2006). She has had two internships at NASA-AMES and has a current internship with Northrop Grumman in Human Factors Engineering. With this she hopes to work on Human Factors for Orion. Liz loves to be active! She enjoys photography, running, mountain biking, scuba diving, river rafting, and traveling. Liz has been a photographer for five years- taking pictures from weddings to landscapes. She also runs every chance she gets- either around the lake or at the gym. She also enjoys mountain biking around Boulder and Moab. She is also a rescue diver with PADI and has logged 25 dives in Catalina, Blue Lake, and/or Belize. Currently, she is working on her Dive Master through NAUI. Liz has been a river rafting nut since 18. She has guided on the Arkansas and Colorado River (Class 4 and 5 rapids). But above all things, she enjoys traveling. She loves to explore new countries and cultures. She has traveled to Mexico, Canada, India, Nepal, Peru (two times), Belize, England and France. She has a passion for living life to the fullest without ever tasting regret.
Cassandra Marion	Cassandra Marion Cassandra Marion grew up in small town Ontario. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Ottawa in geology, her undergraduate thesis focused on siliciclastic sedimentology: a slide and channel complex in a deep marine turbidite system in the Caribou Mountains, BC. She is currently pursuing graduate studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland, in geochemistry and planetary science. Her research focuses on the age, origin, impactite classification and stratigraphy of the Mistastin Lake Impact Crater, Labrador.