April 22, 2021 10:30 AM EST - April 22, 2021 11:00 AM EST
Set audacious goals and work towards them! This is what we need to do right now to address biodiversity loss and the climate crisis. This strategy also led to some fun adventures and a rewarding career for Dr. MacIntyre. Share her journey to becoming a scientist, an astronaut candidate, and a science communicator encouraging people of all ages to take climate action.
Follow Dr. Olathe MacIntyre on Facebook-Olathe Jean MacIntyre, Twitter-@OlatheMacIntyre, Instagram-olathemacintyre, and LinkedIn-OlatheMacIntyre,
Dr. Olathe MacIntyre was among the final 72 astronaut candidates out of 3772 applicants with the Canadian Space Agency in 2017. Her B.Sc. in biology at Dalhousie University and research at a wastewater-treatment greenhouse led her to study biological life-support systems for space exploration. After working as an onboard marine biologist in Alaska for two years, she completed her M.Sc. in space science at the International Space University in France. She participated in a microgravity flight in France and two analogue Mars missions at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. An internship at the world-class Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility at the University of Guelph led to a Ph.D. in environmental sciences. Her thesis explored the implications of low-pressure conditions for plant-microbe interactions in a Lunar or Martian greenhouse. This was followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in water and wastewater treatment in First Nations communities. Dr. MacIntyre is currently a staff scientist with Canada’s second-largest science centre, Science North, where she helps inspire the next generation of scientists through space exploration and taking climate action.
