Crew 122 - HI-SEAS

Crew 122 Final Mission Report

Crew 122 Mission Goals

Crew 122 Daily Crew Reports

Crew 122 Photostream

Angelo Vermeulen - COMMANDER

Angelo Vermeulen is a biologist, space researcher, filmmaker, visual artist, community organizer, and author. His PhD training in ecology, environmental pollution and teratology plays a crucial role in his art. Vermeulen creates art/science installations that are often open, experimental setups that incorporate ecological processes and living organisms. 'Biomodd' is Vermeulen's best-known and longest running project. It is a worldwide series of crosscultural, symbiotic installations in which ecology, computing, and social interaction converge. In 2009 he launched 'Space Ecologies Art and Design (SEAD)', a platform for artistic research on the architectures and ethics of space colonization. He collaborates with the MELiSSA life support research program of the European Space Agency (ESA), and is also a member of ESA's Arts & Science Topical Team. In 2011 his space-related work led him to start a PhD on space habitation at Delft University of Technology. He co-authored the book 'Baudelaire in Cyberspace: Dialogues on Art, Science and Digital Culture' with philosopher Antoon Van den Braembussche, and gives talks about his work around the world. He is a Lecturer at Sint-Lucas Visual Arts Ghent in Belgium, a 2010 TED Fellow, and a 2012 Michael Kalil Endowment for Smart Design Fellow at Parsons in New York. His art works have been exhibited in the US, Europe, Southeast Asia and New Zealand.

Dr. Oleg Abramov - CREW GEOLOGIST & HEALTH/SAFETY OFFICER

Oleg Abramov  was born January 1978 in St. Petersburg, Russia, and grew up in Brooklyn, NY. He earned a bachelor's degree in Biology from Clarkson University (1998) and a doctorate in Planetary Sciences, with a minor in Molecular and Cell Biology, from the University of Arizona (2006). After earning his Ph.D., Dr. Abramov held a Postdoctoral Researcher position at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, CO in 2006-2007, was a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Colorado from 2007 to 2010, and a Urey Fellow at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, TX, in 2010-2011. Dr. Abramov is currently a Research Space Scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology branch in Flagstaff, AZ. He is conducting several research programs, including laboratory studies of lunar zircons, field investigations of ancient terrains on Earth, thermal modeling of impact craters, and studies of Enceladus and Europa using analysis of data from the Cassini and Galileo missions. Dr. Abramov performs frequent field work at remote locations that included arctic Canada and the Australian outback, is a certified Wilderness First Responder, and has previous experience at MDRS (Crew 12). He is a commercial pilot and flight instructor, and enjoys skydiving, SCUBA diving, rock climbing, distance running, backpacking, skiing, and whitewater kayaking.

Yajaira Sierra-Sastre is a materials scientist and educator with ten years of research experience in academic, federal, and private institutions. Yajaira received her bachelors of science degree in chemistry and teacher’s certification from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez and her doctorate in materials chemistry from Cornell University. After college she returned to her hometown of Arroyo in the southeast coast of Puerto Rico, to teach chemistry at her former high school. After gaining valuable teaching experience, Yajaira was awarded a summer research fellowship at Stanford University where she characterized the interfacial tension and selfassembly properties of block copolymers. There she discovered her passion for nanotechnology and returned home to work at the NASA Research Center for Nanoscale Materials (University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras), where she characterized nanomaterials for space-based applications. As part of her PhD studies, Yajaira worked at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (Los Alamos National Laboratory) in the synthesis, imaging, and characterization of semiconductor nanowires. 

After graduation, she worked for two years at a nanotechnology start-up company where she applied biomimicry and surface chemistry principles in the design of nanostructured coatings for clients in the military, environment, renewable energy, medical device/diagnostics, textiles, and wearable electronics sectors. Yajaira is currently a freelance educator, coach, and social entrepreneur working with disadvantaged school districts and communities in Puerto Rico. She also collaborates in a variety of projects with the Cornell Nanoscale Facility and the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network. Her work in nanotechnology, educational outreach, and aspirations to become the first Puerto Rican female astronaut has been recently featured in televised and news media. Her interests also include suborbital materials research and technology commercialization in Latin America and Puerto Rico. Besides her work, Yajaira enjoys Latin dance, theater, outdoor activities, and international cuisine.

Jean Hunter - CREW DIRECTOR & PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR FOR FOOD STUDY

Jean Hunter teaches at Cornell University's Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering. Her research interests include food engineering and the use of fermentation and enzyme technologies to produce useful products from food and agricultural wastes.  Most of her work during the last 10 years has focused space life support including testing and optimization of food systems for long term planetary missions, small scale processing of food materials and agricultural residues in bioregenerative life support systems, in-situ resource utilization, water recovery, and solid waste processing. She has been active at MDRS as a CapCom,  a member of the Remote Science Team, worker bee on opening and closing crews, and lead investigator of the MDRS food study for the last four years.