Dr. Michael Gallagher is the President and CEO of Association of Spaceflight Professionals Inc., an organization developing early-stage human-in-the-loop space experiments and technologies.  Michael currently practices family medicine and dive medicine at the Canadian Forces Base in Esquimalt, British Columbia.  He also provides medical care in rural emergency departments, hospitals and clinics in Alberta and Canada’s north.  He completed a Canadian Space Agency-sponsored aerospace medicine elective at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in April 2010.  His preliminary investigations into lower body negative pressure as a possible countermeasure for bone loss earned him a spot as a finalist for the Aerospace Medical Association’s Jeff Myers Young Investigator Award.  He believes profoundly in human spaceflight’s capacity to spur meaningful technological innovation and unify humanity in pursuit of a common goal.

If you would like to learn more about the Association of Spaceflight Professionals you can check out their website, Association of Spaceflight Professionals - Home. To learn more about Michael's work and his involvement in space you can connect to him on LinkedIn.

Host and creator: Gavin Tolometti

Music Credit: https://www.purple-planet.com

Oh boy do I have a treat for you! You have heard guests talk about space business, space economy, space technology and space art, but you haven't yet heard about the history of space technology! Strap yourselves in for an episode full of history, space facts, wit and science communication!

In this episode, I speak with Amy Shira Tietel. Amy holds a Bachelor's degree with combined honours in History of Science and Technology and Classics (U. of King's College and Dalhousie University) and a Master's degree in Science and Technology Studies (York University). She has had a lifelong passion for spaceflight, which started when she was researching for a second-grade project on Venus. She was captivated by a cartoon image of two astronauts on the Moon and had to know everything about the Apollo program. She produces space technology videos for her YouTube channel The Vintage Space, and is the author of three books: Fighting For Space, Apollo Pilot, and Breaking the Chains of Gravity.

Amy combined her passion for space and writing into one, and has since then transitioned from space blogger to space YouTuber and now to space author. She is an example of how you can become involved in space exploration with a science or engineering heavy background. 

If you would like to learn more about Amy's work, learn about Space Technology History from her YouTube channel The Vintage Space, and find her books you can check out her website,  https://www.amyshirateitel.com 

Alternatively, you can follow her on Instagram @amyshiratietel or on Twitter @AmyShiraTietel

Host and Creator: Gavin Tolometti

Music Credit: https://www.purple-planet.com

Although this title is controversial, it represents the theme of this episode quite well! We get to dive into another non-science and non-engineering journey to the field of space with Kate Howells. 

Kate Howells is a communications strategist for The Planetary Society, an organization that aims to empower people around the world to become involved in advancing space exploration. She also serves as a member of the Government of Canada's Space Advisory Board, and is the author of Space is Cool as F**k.

If you would like to learn more about Kate's work you can follow her on Twitter @SpaceKateH

Host and creator: Gavin Tolometti

Music Credit: https://www.purple-planet.com

We return with an another amazing Mars scientist, science communicator, and space lego collector!

We speak with Dr. Cecilia Leung, a planetary scientist specializing in the present-day water cycle on Mars. Her research combines the use of 3D numerical atmospheric models and spacecraft observations to study seasonal changes in the Martian weather and climate. Her work also supports the Entry-Descent-and-Landing (EDL) of recent Mars Missions such as the InSight Mars Lander and the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover.

Dr. Leung received her PhD from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona, and is currently a NASA postdoctoral fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. One of the greatest privileges of her job is the opportunities to communicate the joys of planetary exploration with students and space enthusiasts, as well as connecting the relevance of research and technology development to the benefits in our daily lives.

If you would like to learn more about Cecilia's work you can find her NASA bio at https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/Leung/ or you can follow her on Twitter @CelestialCess 

Host and creator: Gavin Tolometti

Music Credit: https://www.purple-planet.com

Did you know you can download data and images of planetary bodies taken by spacecrafts!? On your own home laptop!? Well if you did not and want to learn how you can, this is the episode for you!

We speak with Dr. Ali Bramson, a planetary scientist and professor at Purdue University. Her research uses NASA spacecraft mission data to learn about the geology of other planets in our Solar System, and her work on Martian ice is helping to shape the future of human exploration of Mars. She is originally from Wisconsin, USA and got her bachelor's degree in physics and astrophysics from UW-Madison. She got her PhD in planetary sciences at the University of Arizona and moved to Indiana just this past fall to start her new job at Purdue. She tells us how her childhood dream of wanting to become an astronaut led her to internships and experiences working with real space mission data collected by NASA spacecrafts. We also learn from her the soft skills she developed as a student, theatre performer in middle school, and now professor.

 

If you would like to learn more about Ali and her work you can follow her on Twitter @AliBramson.

Host and creator: Gavin Tolometti

Music Credit: https://www.purple-planet.com

I am going to let the title do the talking for you this time :D

In this episode, we speak with Alina Kunitskaya who holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Calgary and is currently a PhD student in biomedical engineering at the University of British Columbia. Her passion for solving space exploration challenges led to her involvement in developing a process to recycle astronauts’ fecal waste into 3D-printable bioplastics, developing and flying a scientific payload in microgravity, developing an oxygen production process on Mars, and completing a simulated sub-orbital spaceflight to help scientists examine the physiological and psychological impacts of g-forces associated with spaceflight. Alina currently volunteers as a Director at Large at SEDS-Canada (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space).

If you would like to learn more about Alina's work and follow her journey you an find her on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Host and creator: Gavin Tolometti

Music Credit: https://www.purple-planet.com

Mariam has a BSc. in Electrical Engineering from UT Austin and an MBA from the University of Toronto. She has a global and multi-disciplinary background, having worked as a commercial space consultant, as a technology strategist in the Enterprise Innovation team at one of the largest banks in Canada, as a field engineer on an oil rig in Russia, a manufacturing engineer in a Product Development center in Texas and as a business development manager for a Toronto-based Quantum computing startup. In her free time, Mariam is involved with various non-profit organizations in the space sector including SEDS-Canada as an Advisory Board member and SGAC where she serves as the National Point of Contact for Canada.

If you would like to learn more about Mariam's work and reach out to her if you have questions about the space sector you can find her on Instagram and Twitter @spacenaseem or you can connect with her on LinkedIn.

 

Spin-Off Technology from Episode: Space-Age Water Conservation | NASA Spinoff

 

Host and Producer: Gavin Tolometti

Music Credit: https://www.purple-planet.com

Emile has been fascinated by space for as long as she can remember. It was not until her high school science teacher introduced her to extremophiles that her curiosity about life on other worlds was sparked. With the mentorship of her fantastic astronomy professor at John Abbott College and her passion for astrobiology, she jumped into the field of space and is now currently pursuing a BSc in Planetary Sciences at McGill University. Incidentally, these experiences made her a huge advocate for supporting young people in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) via educational outreach! Over the course of her undergrad, she has undertaken some pretty awesome research projects: surface mapping of simulated exoplanets, experimenting with biomineralization of Mg-clays, and most recently, remote sensing of lunar impact melt deposits at Western University's Institute for Earth and Space Exploration. Like many space enthusiasts, she dreams of becoming an astronaut, but not before contributing to a few space missions while earthbound!

If you would like to learn more about Emilie's work and see her wonderful space art posts you can follow her on Instagram @astroemilie or visit her website astroemilie.wordpress.com

Podcast is also available on YouTube

Host and Producer: Gavin Tolometti

Music Credit: https://www.purple-planet.com

Dr. Parshati Patel is an astrophysicist turned science communicator and STEM education researcher based in London, Ontario, Canada. She moved to Canada from India to get her Bachelors of Science at the University of Toronto and then on to get her PhD in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Western Ontario. She is passionate about communicating space science and technology with the students and the public to ignite their curiosity about Earth's environment and our place in the universe. She enjoys capturing the night sky, cooking, painting and watching romantic movies!

 

If you want to learn more about Parshati's work, you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @ParshatiPatel

Host and Producer: Gavin Tolometti

Music Credit: https://www.purple-planet.com

Hira Nadeem graduated with her Bachelors of Engineering from McMaster University in Canada, and is a Masters of Engineering and Science student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Western University's Institute for Earth and Space Exploration. Hira is a strong believer in making space accessible and interdisciplinary. As the former Operations and Co-Project Manager for McMaster NEUDOSE, a cube satellite team taking part in the Canadian CubeSat Project with the Canadian Space Agency, she had the opportunity to work with students across different departments to design and build a cube satellite that will launch in 2022. Hira strives to create inclusive opportunities for students across Canada who are passionate about space exploration. Through her involvement as a former President of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) Canada, and the co-founder of the McMaster Planetary Society, Hira has led teams to create opportunities for Canadian students and young professionals locally and nationally. 

 

In 2020, Hira was selected as a Brooke Owens Fellow, which gave her the opportunity to intern at Planet in San Francisco, California. She is also the co-Founder of Zenith Canada, a national merit based training and career development program to support and sustain Canadian students and young professionals in the space industry. Hira is excited to research solutions to problems both on Earth and in space during her Master's, and looks forward to continuing to support and sustain the Canadian space industry.

 

If you want to learn more about Hira's work, you can follow her on Twitter @hirainspace.

Host and Producer: Gavin Tolometti

Music Credit: https://www.purple-planet.com