Executive
Jon's is a geological general practitioner,. He graduated as a palaeontologist, moved into petroleum and coal geology, completing a PhD in carbonate sedimentology and palaeoecology. He has also worked on marine surveys in the Southern and Indian Oceans, explored for base metals, nickel and gold in Archaean and Proterozoic terranes in South and western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, as well as for gold and copper in the Philippines and Chile. More recently he has been working on the evolution of Australian landscapes, especially of the arid interior and its regolith, on the sedimentology and architecture of Australian Cainozoic basins, and aquifer characterisation and salinity mapping in Australian depositional landscapes. He has been researching in two main fields, terrestrial analogues of Martian landscapes and developing exploration strategies for human missions to Mars. Particular analogue landscapes he is interested in include the Hanksville area in Utah, the Arkaroola region in South Australia, areas of inverted relief throughout Australia, and groundwater-related landforms of Australian mound springs, especially those at Dalhousie. Exploration strategies for human missions is through integrated field research of instruments (spectrometers, data capture, geophysical tools), methodologies (scouting, navigation), exploration technologies (suits, living modules, rovers, field robotics), at appropriate levels of simulation fidelity. These inform and define baseline requirements and capabilities of human Mars missions and have been particularly useful in the development of the Mars Oz reference mission, a low mass, high return four person Mars mission utilising chemical propulsion and solar power.
Guy Murphy′s long-standing interest in Mars was initially fired by reading science fiction, and the Mars Pathfinder landing in 1998. He was a co-founder of the Mars Society Australia in 1998. He has participated in scientific expeditions to Mars-like environments in outback South Australia and spoken at Mars conferences in Australia, Europe and North America. He first visited the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in 2003, returning in 2019 as part of the month long Australian led Expedition Boomerang. A graduate of the University of Melbourne, he is a researcher writer and historian based in Melbourne. His interests in Australian history and Mars share the themes of frontier exploration and human settlement. Guy has also coauthored a number of papers examining the heritage management of space artefacts. He is the author of Mars: A Survival Guide, published by Harper Collins Australia (2010).
Marcia has been passionately interested in space since she first looked up at the sky as a small girl and wondered what was out there. Her interest was furthered by the late astronomer Michael O'Leary and involvement in the Astronomical Society of South Australia. In 2001, attending a public lecture by NASA scientists Carol Stoker and Larry Lemke prior to the Jarntimarra expedition; she was amazed to learn Australia was involved in Mars research and inspired to become involved in the Mars Society. Ever since, she has been a board member and the South Australian branch coordinator. She has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Recreation Planning and Management. She served in the 2004 Expedition to Arkaroola, has been a past convenor of the Australian Mars Exploration Conference (AMEC) in 2004 and 2009, and various outreach activities including National Science Week, meetings and public lectures. Marcia dreams of a future human presence on Mars. She would like to see an increased commitment from Australia to deepen its involvement in the space industry. Marcia sees Mars research including Mars missions, as a way to inspire young people into Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) and to eventually have some Aussies on Mars.
Dr. Annalea Beattie is an artist who is interested in the role of art and art making in long duration space travel. Based in space science, her practice considers how art making in Mars-like environments can contribute to thinking about how we might live in the future on other planets in confined, hostile and isolated circumstances that are not conducive to, but are in fact inhospitable to art making. On space simulations and space science expeditions, she works with scientists and technologists to explore how the experiences of making art might activate small, extraterrestrial communities, promoting social cohesion, rich, diverse, cultures and improving quality of life. Employing participatory methods and collaboration in often harsh, dark and extreme places, much of her art practice involves sensory deprivation. Much of it is mobile, performative and improvised, set in conditions and environments analogous to those on Mars. Annalea has contributed to four Springer volumes on extraterrestrial liberty, speculating through her art practice how art making can invigorate communities off-Earth. She is an Executive Director of Mars Society Australia and a Director of the National Space Society of Australia. She is Adjunct Professor at the Centre of Excellence in Astrobiology, Amity University, Mumbai and a member of the Association of Mars Explorers.
Dr Rowena Christiansen practises in medicine in extreme and austere environments, focusing on space health and pre-hospital healthcare. Rowena has a diverse background, with qualifications and experience in medicine, law, business, humanities, and education, including aerospace medicine and space studies. She is a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA), the Aerospace Human Factors Association (AsHFA), and of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne. Rowena developed a new subject on “Human health in the space environment” for the Melbourne Medical School, lectures on ‘humans in space’ for Swinburne University of Technology, and is a researcher, academic editor and reviewer. A passionate aerospace medicine advocate and educator, she is the first Australian to serve as an AsMA Vice-President, Founder of the ad astra vita project (space health and extreme medicine), and Co-Founder of the International Humans in Space Summit. Rowena also has long-standing interests in disaster health and emergency response, and space and global health. She is the Research Director, Health Law for the Jus Ad Astra human rights in space project, a UNOOSA Space4Women mentor, an ISU alumna and mentor, a member of the Australian Space Agency Space Medicine and Life Sciences Technical Advisory Group, and serves on numerous voluntary organisation executive committees. Rowena is a five-year finalist in the Australian Space Awards, receiving the 2023 “Innovator of the Year” award, and has also received several aerospace medicine awards.
Thomas isn't sure what got him interested in planetary exploration, but it certainly didn't kick in during childhood, when he was busy turning over stones to harass the things living under them. This behaviour persisted until he graduated from UWA with a BSc in Botany and Zoology. He has since meandered through several years of odd jobs in interesting places; during this time he was seized by the space bug, which refuses to let go. Attended ESEP '22 in Ladakh, and SHSSP '23 in Adelaide. Special interest (though no expertise) in microbiology, field geology, and work in remote and challenging locations. Joined MSA in late 2022.
Thomas is currently occupied as a meteorological observer with BoM, assigned to Casey Station in Antarctica as part of the 77th ANARE.
Dr Siddharth Pandey is the Director with the Mars Society Australia and is actively involved in planning analogue field projects in India and Australia. He works at Fugro Australia on helping develop Lunar rover and manage the SpAARC facility. Prior to this, he has experience in building sample collection instruments for Mars and Venus surface missions while working at NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (2022-23) and NASA Ames (2012-14), USA. He received the NASA Spaceflight Awareness Team Award and NASA Ames Technology Transfer Award for two successful spaceflight experiments onboard the International Space Station and co-owns a registered NASA patent. Siddharth has led international expeditions to explore extreme environments in Ladakh and Lonar crater, Maharashtra as sites to test experiments and systems for Mars exploration. He is a Director with the Mars Society Australia and is actively involved in planning analogue field projects in India and Australia. He has been engaged in education and public outreach activities and is motivated to use Space as a tool to spread awareness, social consciousness and inclusiveness within our communities. He holds MS in Space Systems Engineering from TU Delft, Netherlands and BTech in Aerospace Engineering from Amity University, India.
Alexander is a public servant and 'aspiring' author who holds a deep fascination with space exploration, colonisation and industrialisation, and has previously worked for the Australian Space Agency.
Earl was scared witless watching the original "The War of the Worlds" movie as a small child and has been in love with Mars, astronomy and B-grade movies ever since.
A life long astronomer and a member of the MSA the since 2016, he originally studied computer science at university after leaving school and then embarked on a multi-decade long career in the Australian IT industry. After moving from front-line hardware customer service and support through to management roles in that area, he made the switch to sales and marketing in the 90's just as the Internet became part of our daily lives. Earl was heavily involved in running a number of leading US and Australian software companies offering CRM, B2C and B2B e-commerce, cloud and ERP solutions.
He continued with studies in a range of fields and obtained post graduate qualifications in astronomy from Swinburne University. Since 2020 he's been the Customer Communications Manage for The Binocular and Telecope Shop (BINTEL) in Sydney, which is the southern hemisphere's largest supplier of astronomical equipment. Part of this role at BINTEL is producing their weekly e-newsletter which is read by tens of thousands of keen astro and nature fans around the world. Earl has a strong interest in astronomy based research and is working on MSA projects involving amateur astronomers imaging Mars. Earl's few remaining moments of spare time is spent planning additions to his collection of space and sci-fi themed tattoos and wrangling his three Chihuahuas.
Ryan Kupferle is a seasoned project and operations manager with ten years of experience leading large-scale, complex initiatives. A strong advocate for space exploration and interplanetary research, Ryan brings a passion for emerging technologies to his work, continuously pushing the boundaries of innovation and efficiency. Alongside his project management expertise, Ryan is dedicated to advancing Australia’s space sector through active involvement in initiatives centred on space exploration and technological advancement. He holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship, a Graduate Diploma in Management, and is currently completing a Master of Space Operations at UNSW Canberra.
Dr. James Waldie has over 2 decades of bioastronautics experience working on EVA and IVA spacesuits, and has co-founded Human Aerospace and Cape Bionics. He is an adjunct Professor at RMIT, and was a Postdoctoral Scholar at MIT and consultant at NASA and ESA. His research has focused on the design and physiological effects of the next generation of spacesuits, and investigations into reducing the mobility resistance and injury mechanisms of gas-pressurised gloves. He has designed a gravity loading skinsuit as a countermeasure to skeletal atrophy during long duration missions, and in collaboration with ESA and Kings College London has had his suits deployed on ISS missions in 2015 and 2017. For the Mars Society, James has served on the Jarntimarra, Expedition (One and Two) and Leonardo missions, and currently leads the MarsSkin project producing analogue MCP spacesuits.
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