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April Andreas is building an engineering program at McLennan Community College. She attended Southern Methodist University, earning a B.S. and M.S. in Mathematics, and then attended the University of Arizona, completing a Ph.D. in Systems and Industrial Engineering.
A member of the Mars Society Steering Committee, April has served the space advocacy community since she and her husband Derek co-founded the Dallas Chapter of the Mars Society in 2003. She has traveled to Washington, D.C. numerous times to lobby on behalf of human space exploration and has served as a consultant for the Mars Foundation and 4Frontiers Corporation. She has also taught a course on Mars Colonization to gifted teens during a summer program at SMU, the results of which were published in TEMPO, a quarterly journal for gifted education. She commanded crew 110B at MDRS in January 2012.
CREW 128 A
LARRY BENTON - COMMANDER
Larry Benton is an Instructor of Chemistry at McLennan Community College. He has worked for 23 years in industry. His experience includes working in the aerospace, pharmaceutical, and plastics industries.Larry is the inventor on three patents and has co-authored several peer-reviewed papers. Larry holds a Master of Science degree from Baylor University.
BAO PHAM - EXECUTIVE OFFICER, JOURNALIST
Bao Pham is in his second year as an engineering student at McLennan Community College. He is a member of the Honors College and Vice-President of the Engineering and Physics Club.
Bao also participated in the National Community College Aerospace Scholars program sponsored by NASA. The program involved completing coursework before traveling to the Johnson Space Center to design and create a robotic rover.
His research project for the mission is adding resistance to the MDRS space suits and then making qualitative and quantitative measurements at the HAB.
ALYSEN JOHNSON - BIOLOGIST, GREENHABAlysen is currently attending the Medical Laboratory Technician program at MCC. She is also working towards her Bachelors of Clinical Science and, when she finishes the program at MCC, is planning to attend graduate school for her Masters in Clinical Science. She is very excited to be one of the first students from MCC to be part of a Mars crew, and is very much looking forward to saying, “I did research on ‘Mars’!”
RANDY SOMMERFELT - CHEMIST
Randy Sommerfelt is currently a second year student at MCC. He is very excited to be part of the great opportunity of conducting undergraduate research. The only other great experience that comes close to this for Randy is when he was chosen to be in the Youth Visits United Nations program, where he learned the history and culture of New York City while attending meetings on what the United Nations does and how it functions. Now he is planning for the future something bigger than himself. He plans to transfer to UNT to get a degree in biochemistry, after which he wants to work for a pharmaceutical company in research of diseases. In the future, he hopes to also work in the molecular biology and genetics field.
PAULINA SIDEWELL - CREW ENGINEER & GEOLOGIST
Paulina Sidwell is an engineering professor at McLennan Community College. She attended New Mexico State University, where she played Division I tennis while getting her B.S. in Industrial Engineering. She received her M.S in Industrial Engineering from NMSU as well. Paulina is originally from Monterrey, Mexico.
While at NMSU, Paulina was vice-president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, and was an active member of the school's Tau Beta Pi and IIE chapters. At graduation she was honored with the Outstanding International Student Award and the Joe and Van Bullock Medal of Honor to Outstanding Female Student-Athlete.
Paulina is the crew engineering and geologist on this Mission.
MARIANNA WHITELEY - ASTRONOMER, HEALTH & SAFETY OFFICER
Marianna Whiteley earned her B.A. from Grove City College in communication studies and her M.A. from Baylor University also in communication studies with an emphasis on interpersonal communication. She is currently an instructor of speech communication at McLennan Community College and is actively involved with the Engineering and Physics Club on campus. Marianna enjoys pursuing backyard astronomy as a hobby and exploring new possibilities.
CREW 128 B
LIZ MITCHELL - COMMANDERLiz Mitchell is an assistant professor of biology at McLennan Community College. She received her BS in biology and MS in biotechnology from Texas A&M University. She teaches microbiology, genetics, majors biology, and non-majors biology. This past summer, Liz taught a brand-new student research class in marine biology with Professor Stephanie Randell where they travelled to Honduras for the research portion of the course. Liz is also currently working to help get biotechnology courses off the ground at MCC.
Prior to coming to MCC, Liz worked in Boston in the biotechnology industry. She worked for the microarray division of the Harvard Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics and for Immunetics, Inc. At Immunetics, she was a member of a research and development team that designed a new way to detect bacterial contamination in platelet transfusion products.
BRADLEY T. TURNER - ASTRONOMER
Bradley T. Turner teaches environmental science at McLennan Community College and holds a Master of Environmental Studies from Baylor University, and a Master or
Arts in American history also from Baylor University. Turner has published an eclectic assortment of both popular and academic books, articles, and photographs on a variety
of subjects and enjoys exploring new fields. He was either won or been nominated for a variety of teaching awards and is interested in all things science, arts, and humanities.
JAMES VESELKA - EXECUTIVE OFFICER, JOURNALIST
James Veselka is a sophomore majoring in Mechanical Engineering at McLennan Community
College. His future plans will lead him to a Masters Degree and a job in the Space Industry. He
enjoys reading science fiction novels and designing creative solutions to problems.
KYLE FLAHERTEY - ENGINEER
Kyle Flaherty is a freshman at McLennan Community College. He is hoping to transfer to University of Texas at Dallas and pursue a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering followed by a master’s degree in telecommunications engineering. Most of his time outside of work and school is spent building Arduino based projects. Kyle also enjoys whitewater kayaking and biking when he is not hiding from the sun.
JENNIFER JOHNSON - BIOLOGIST, HEALTH & SAFETY OFFICER, GREENHAB
Jennifer Johnson is currently a Medical Lab Tech student at McLennan Community College working towards her Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Laboratory Science. She is hoping to continue on to obtain a Masters degree from UTMB in genetic research.
As a novice scientist, the chance to study an alien environment will be an exciting experience. It is an honor to be one of the first students from MCC to get the opportunity to participate in such a unique research project with experienced and dedicated scientists interested in various areas of life on Mars.
SANTIAGO VALLEJO - GEOLOGIST
Santiago Vallejo is a sophomore at McLennan Community College. He is majoring in Geology He has participated in several research opportunities in his academic career. He was a member of the CASPER Lunar Research Project in partnership with Baylor University, he has conducted a study on hydraulic fracturing in Texas, and he has participated in the geology field course offered at MCC. He hopes to pursue his degree in Geoscience at the University of Texas
at Austin.
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