MDRS Crew 58
FMARS 2007 Training Crew
February 18 - March 4, 2007

Name	Speciality
Melissa Battler	Commander
Matt Bamsey	Executive Officer/Engineer
James Harris	Chief Engineer
Simon Auclair	Crew Geologist
Kathryn Bywaters	Crew Biologist
Kim Binsted	Interdisciplinary Scientist
Emily Colvin	Crew Engineer
Ryan Kobrick	Crew Engineer

Melissa Battler	Melissa Battler is currently working on her M.Sc. in Planetary Geology at the University of New Brunswick's Planetary and Space Science Centre. She is developing a lunar highland regolith simulant in cooperation with EVC & NORCAT in Sudbury, Canada, 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 Spanish/American Mars Drilling Project, MARTE. She has served on three Mars Society Canada training and research missions at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah; as Crew Geologist on Expedition One (Mar 2003); as Research Manager/Science Instructor on Expedition Alpha (Dec 2004); and as Commander/Science Instructor on Expedition Beta (Feb 2006), and plans to continue managing operations of many future Mars analog missions, including Commanding both a NASA Spaceward Bound crew (Jan 2007), and the four-month expedition to the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station, FMARS, on Devon Island, Canada (May-Aug 2007). She is a Canadian Space Agency Student Ambassador, President of Mars Society Canada, a NASA Spaceward Bound Commander, co-chair of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG)'s Young Lunar Explorer's committee, Canadian Representative for Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), Advisor to the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) Canada, founder of the Waterloo and Fredericton Space Societies, and a member of both the Association of Mars Explorers and the Mars Desert Research Station Remote Science Team. She enjoys rock-climbing, yoga, hiking, camping, ice-climbing, SCUBA diving, skydiving, traveling, and is working on her pilot's license. Her primary goal is to become an astronaut and to study the surfaces of the Moon and Mars, however she would be almost as happy to train future astronauts, and prepare them for scientific exploration of other planets.
Matt Bamsey	Matt Bamsey holds a B.Eng. in Aerospace Engineering from Carleton University in Ottawa and a M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder concentrating primarily on life support and space suit design. Matt is currently pursuing a Ph.D. with the University of Guelph focusing on advanced life support under a Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada scholarship while stationed at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). He has spent several years as a student at the CSA, where he has worked with the RADARSAT-2 program and with the Space Science department on the Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse project on Devon Island in the Canadian High Arctic. Matt has been active in various space advocacy groups for many years and was president of Mars Society Canada between 2003 and 2005. He is also the current student advisor to the Mars Institute Board of Advisors. Other interests of Matt's include space history and space-related political lobbying.
James Harris	James Harris is a network support supervisor at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas. A sixth generation Texan, he has worked as a lifeguard, electrician, computer design and production technician, and chef. Currently an undergraduate pursuing a double major in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, James hopes to acquire an advanced degree in data communications by the time he reaches his 40th birthday. He currently holds an Associate of Science degree in Computer Science, many technical certifications in network administration, various emergency response certifications, and various OSHA approved heavy equipment certifications. His hobbies include motorcycles, hunting and camping, darts, and amateur astronomy. As a member of the Mars Society since 1999 James is active on the web and database teams and serves as Webmaster for the Political Task Force. Most recently James served as Communications Engineer for MDRS Crew 22 where he became familiar with the operation and maintenance of the habitat as well as the GreenHab and Musk Observatory.
Simon Auclair	Simon Auclair was born in Quebec City, Canada. He graduated in Geology at Université Laval in 2004. He has been a field geologist ever since. He has worked many times in Arctic-like conditions in Northern Quebec and also in the heat of the Central Australian Desert. Currently undergoing a Master of Space Studies at the International Space University, FMARS 2007 will be his final internship, the one he hoped for! His interests in science are broad, ranging from planetary resource utilization to the evolution of the solar system and astrobiology. On Devon Island, Simon aims at conducting relevant geology fieldwork in collaboration with the Mission Commander. He believes this will help understanding how geologists could maintain valuable work on Mars and why their role is so crucial. He also wishes to participate in biological research in order to support his colleagues, as he knows that a good the team spirit will make the crew performing better.
Kathryn Bywaters	Kathryn Bywaters Crew Biochemist, Undergraduate Student and Biochemistry Major/Lab Assistant, Miracosta College, San Diego
Kim Binsted	Kim Binsted is a lead team member at the UH-NASA Astrobiology Institute, which formed in late 2003. She was a NASA Summer Faculty Fellow at Ames Research Center in 2003 and 2004, where she worked on sub-vocal speech recognition technology in the Neuroengineering Lab. She is also a member of the National Space Society and the Mars Society, and has served as a crew member at the Mars Desert Research Station. Kim Binsted did her BSc in Physics at McGill (1991), and her PhD in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Edinburgh (1996). Her thesis topic was the computational modeling and generation of punning riddles, and her program, JAPE (Joke Analysis and Production Engine), generated puns such as “What do you call a Martian who drinks beer? An ale-ien!”. She then went to Japan, where she did research at Sony’s Computer Science Laboratories on human-computer interfaces, and then started a company, I-Chara KK, which developed social software agents for mobile phones. Then, in 2002, she accepted a faculty position in the Information and Computer Sciences Department at the University of Hawaii, where she does research on artificial intelligence, mobile devices and autonomous ad-hoc sensor networks. She is also a partner in a consultancy, Binsted-McKay LLC. Her hobbies include flying, underwater videography, outrigger paddling and improvisational comedy.
Emily Colvin	Emily Colvin is a Nuclear and Radiological Engineering (NRE) student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In May 2007, she will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in NRE, a minor in Aerospace Engineering, propulsion track, and a certificate in French. She will graduate in 2008 with a Master's of Science in NRE, with her thesis work in the development and construction of a radiation detector prototype for a Martian environment. She plans to continue in school for a PhD, doing research in her primary interest of nuclear thermal propulsion. A 2006 Summer Fellow at the Center for Space Nuclear Research, she has already gained experience in this field. Emily is a founding member of the Mars Society at Georgia Tech (MSGT) and has served as its secretary and executive officer (president). Through MSGT, she has been a member of two crews to the Mars Desert Research Station (Crew 37 as Mission Support Lead and Crew 47 as Executive Officer and IT Specialist) and will be commanding Crew 60 in spring 2007. Through the Engineering Team, Emily has been involved in the controls and systems monitoring of the Station as well as miscellaneous maintenance and repair.
Ryan Kobrick	Ryan Kobrick Ryan received his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario (2002), his Master's of Space Studies degree from the International Space University in Strasbourg, France (2003), and his Master's of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University (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 on Crew 25 (Feb. 29 to Mar. 14, 2004), as Executive Officer of Crew 44 / ExBeta (Feb. 11 to 26, 2006), and will return as Commander of Crew 56 / ExGamma (Jan. 20 to Feb. 4, 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 (CUSEDS), and as an advisor for both SEDS Canada and Mars Society Canada's Exploration Mars (ExMars) Program. More information about Ryan can be fouynd on his Homepage.