The first off-world communities living on the Moon, Mars and beyond will rely heavily on the knowledge and resources of teams on Earth. The Off-World Project constitutes a diverse and wide range of collaborators, from technology partners, to advisors, to team members selected for the Off-World communities. The Off-world experiments are not just simulations, but real communities that will showcase the human spirit and resilience required to build self-sustaining settlements in some of the Earth’s harshest and most isolated environments, through collaboration.
The Proudly Human team is made up of people from around the world taking part in the leaps of imagination, science and technology required for the realisation of the off-world settlement of the near future, as well as sustainability on Earth. Through our collective expertise, curiosity and passion, we will contribute to the most profound achievement humanity has ever aspired to: expanding our society beyond Earth, towards future of which we can be proud, in harmony with each other and the environment, whatever planet we are on.
Do you have the skills to contribute? Apply to join our #ProudlyHuman Research and Technology Partner Network. Email groundcontrol@proudlyhuman.com.
founder
Dr Adriana Marais founded Proudly Human in 2019. She has a PhD in theoretical physics and is currently designing a blockchain-based economic system for extreme environments towards a second PhD. Adriana is a Director at the Foundation for Space Development Africa, developing Africa’s first mission to the Moon, the Africa2Moon Project. She is Scientific Moderator on Space Resources with the Geneva Science & Diplomacy Anticipator, Chair of Space Sciences at Tod’Aérs Aeronautics & Space Research and Faculty at the Singularity University and Duke Corporate Education.
head of engineering
Akshay Nayak is a mechanical engineer with a masters in technology management and is currently Technology and Customer Relations Manager at Securonix. With his expertise in areas from engineering design to cybersecurity, he will drive and oversee the Off-World Tech Hub and its relationship with a range of technology partners, as well as manage the integration of technologies in each extreme Off-World location, from life support to communication systems.
advisor
Carla Sharpe has an executive MBA from the International Space University in France and is currently working on her PhD in Economics and Space Studies at the University of Cape Town. She is passionate about space and her motivation is to positively impact lives in Africa through space technology. She is a founder of the South African Space Association and the Foundation for Space Development
Founder & President - Biosphere Foundation
Chief Operations Officer & Captain of sailing vessel Mir - Biosphere Foundation
Chief Financial Officer & Director of Agriculture & Forestry - Biosphere Foundation
CEO of White Desert Antarctica
Having been part of the youngest and fastest team to ever reach the South Pole in 2002, Patrick went on to lead the first ever East to West traverse of Antarctica, covering 1850km in a total of 75 days.
Outside of the Polar World, he has been on many successful expeditions, summiting unclimbed mountains in Tibet and Kyrgyzstan, kayaking down uncharted rivers in the Amazon and being part of the team to set the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. In 2015 he broke the record for the fastest traverse of Greenland.
Find out more about White Desert here.
Multidisciplinary scientist in the field of Astrobiology
Psychiatrist and mindfulness meditation teacher
Dr. Jonathan Starke is a psychiatrist and mindfulness meditation teacher with a master’s degree looking at the effects of stress on health, and a special interest in the clinical applications of mindfulness in mental healthcare, health professional wellness and burnout-prevention.
Before becoming a psychiatrist, he worked in emergency, remote site and expedition medicine. From 2004 – 2006 he was the over-wintering team leader and doctor for the 44th South African National Antarctic Expedition, and later provided medical support to research teams on the SA Agulhas vessel, Marion Island and Gough Island until 2009. He has also worked for MSF in Pakistan, as well as surviving for 30 days on an uninhabited island in the Andaman sea with only what he could fit in a 5-litre dry bag. He has an ongoing interest in supporting teams working in extreme settings.
ENTREPRENEUR, PEDAGOGUE AND AUTHOR
Gunter Pauli (1956) is an entrepreneur, pedagogue and author. He pioneers innovations and creates new (disruptive) business models. Gunter accompanied over 200 projects over the past quarter of a century, translating ideas with solid science into a vision implemented through entrepreneurship.
These initiatives have evolved in three unicorns and dozens of demonstrations on how to transform society. Gunter adheres to a philosophy summarized in his book “The Blue Economy” (2010) translated in nearly 50 languages. He proposes to avoid dividing opinions centered around “for or against”. Rather he continuously focuses on finding better solutions, much better indeed! He embraces radical change, shifting from the obsession to ever higher levels of efficiency, globalization and ever lower prices, to resilience and the capacity of a better response to the basic needs of all, by generating value with what is locally available. He dedicates half of his time to inspire children with fables that empowers them to create a SuperWorld their parents could never have imagined. His latest book “The Economy of Happiness” is based on the successful implementation of game changing businesses, and outlines underlying principles that establish the successful pursuit of health and happiness..
TRANSITION COACH, CROSS CULTURAL EXPERT & ADVENTURER
Originally from Italy and global citizen for the last 20 years, Vittoria’ focus is on personal development, inner alignment, mindfulness, leadership, cultural awareness & change. Her mission is to empower people to be catalysts for the change they want to see for themselves and for the world.
Vittoria is a proud partner of Women On a Mission with 4 expeditions accomplished in remote lands in Nepal, Iran, Ethiopia and Indonesia. Passionate about social leadership, Vittoria is always in the quest for extreme challenges with the aim to support women and communities affected by trauma, violence and neglect around the world through education and empowerment. With a degree cum laude in Logic and Philosophy, Vittoria is always expanding her discoveries in the areas of psychology, neuroscience, self-development and leadership, in order to keep expanding the human potential.
Transformational Leadership Practitioner,Senior FacilitatoR, Coach & Trainer
Yene is a seasoned Transformational Leadership practitioner with over 20 years’ experience as a professional facilitator, coach and trainer with an extensive background in talent development. Specialising in leadership, transformation and change management, Yene has a talent for working with a wide range of individuals.
She is widely recognized for her capacity to hold space for senior management teams to have delicate and necessary conversations and achieve breakthroughs for the overall organizational wellbeing. Her ability to genuinely relate to people creates a safe environment, enabling sustainable transformation and effective learning at all levels of management. She has a natural understanding of the global mindset, including cross-cultural dynamics in leadership development, change management and team building, in an increasingly diverse and ever more VUCA environment.
Yene has delivered well over 5,000 hours of coaching to date. Her most recent work in leadership training, coaching and facilitation has been with organisations such as: UNICEF, UNSSC, EU, UNAIDS, UNDP, DHL, 3M, Castel Breweries, NATO, African Union, GIZ, Société Générale, British Council, CNV (Dutch Trade Union Federation), and a number of civil society organizations in Africa and Asia.
She has a PhD in Transformation and Change in Human Systems, is a Master Certified Coach (MCC), a level achieved by top 3% of coaches worldwide and is accredited to deliver MBTI, NLP, LEA 360, and Personal Motivation Drivers Assessment (PD-IDI). Yene is proficient in Integral Theory/Approach, Spiral Dynamic and Systems Thinking. She is a motivational speaker and a published author with three books and numerous articles. Yene serves on the Global Board of the International Coaching Foundation (ICFF).
Next milestone in Yene dreams is launching her Leadership Foundation course designed for girls 16-21. The program will be online. There are a few gifts embedded in this program. First, is the gift of learning to engage in an intentional life journey. Second is to meet, work with and build sisterhood with girls from all corners of the world. Third is building a life-long community of sisterhood that will support, nurture and bring joy in each of our lives. The dream is to reach a minimum of 5000 girls in the first 3 years and after impact analysis, take it to bringing a 100,000 girls together in ten years.
ARCHITECT, PLANNER, TECHNOLOGIST
Dr Geci Karuri-Sebina is an architect / planner / technologist whose expertise is in human settlement development, socio-technical systems, and the future. She is an Associate with South African Cities Network, a Visiting Research Fellow at the Wits School of Governance, national organiser of the Civic Tech Innovation Network, and a Singularity University global faculty member on the future of cities and governance. She holds a PhD in planning and innovation systems, Masters’ degrees in Architecture and in Urban Planning, and undergraduate degrees in Computer Science and Sociology.
PROFESSOR
Francesco Petruccione was born in 1961 in Genova (Italy). He studied Physics at the University of Freiburg i. Br. and received his PhD in 1988. He was conferred the “Habilitation” degree (Dr. rer. nat. habil.) from the same University in 1994. In 2004 he was appointed Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), in Durban (South Africa). In 2005 he was awarded an Innovation Fund grant to set up a Centre for Quantum Technology. In 2007 he was granted the South African Research Chair for Quantum Information Processing and Communication. At present, he is the interim Director of the National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Science, Pro Vice-Chancellor Big Data and Informatics of UKZN, and Adjunct Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering of the Korean Advanced Institute for Science and Technology (KAIST).
Prof Petruccione is an elected member of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa, a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa and a Fellow of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He has published about 250 papers in refereed scientific journals. He is the co-author of a monograph on “The Theory of Open Quantum Systems ” (more than 7000 citations according to Google Scholar), that was published in 2002, reprinted as paperback in 2007, and translated in Russian. Recently, he published a monograph (with Maria Schuld) on “Supervised Learning with Quantum Computers”. He is the editor of several proceedings volumes and of special editions of scientific journals. Prof Petruccione is a member of the Editorial Board of the journals “Open Systems and Information Dynamics”, “Scientific Reports”, and “Quantum Machine Intelligence”.
POLAR EXPLORER, ENDURANCE ATHLETE, MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER
Ben Saunders is one of the world’s leading polar explorers, and a record-breaking long-distance skier who has covered more than 7,000km (4,350 miles) on foot in the Polar Regions since 2001.
His accomplishments include leading The Scott Expedition, the longest human-powered polar journey in history, and the first completion of the expedition that defeated Captain Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton, a 105-day round-trip from Ross Island on the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back again. Ben is the third person in history to ski solo to the North and South poles, and holds the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton.
He is a global brand ambassador for Land Rover and Canada Goose, an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, a patron and fellow of British Exploring, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and an acclaimed keynote speaker, described by TED (where he has spoken three times) as ‘A master storyteller’.
In print, Ben is the author of Shackleton (A Ladybird Expert Book) and he has featured in ReWork by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried, The Rise by Sarah Lewis, and TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking by Chris Anderson.
POLicy analyst, research fellow
Ruvimbo Samanga is a Policy Analyst at Space in Africa, and a Research Fellow at the Open Lunar Foundation. She holds a Masters In International Trade & Investment Law and has specialised in the African space industry and development. She currently represents Zimbabwe in the Space Generation Advisory Council and the Women in Aerospace Africa Chapter. She is also the founder of AgriSpace, an early stage Agri-tech startup developed in collaboration with the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens. She has also been recognised as one of the top 10 Under 30 in the African space industry. A keen space enthusiast, she is involved in various capacity building and policy developing initiatives in
the global space sector.
Aerospace Physician, Weightless Flight Surgeon and ZeroG Instructor (Novespace)
Dr Jeremy Saget is an Aerospace Physician, Weightless Flight Surgeon and ZeroG Instructor (Novespace). Flight Surgeon (rotary wing Aeromedical Evacuations) for UN Peace Keepers support. Committed one year to leprosy detection in Comores, Indian Ocean. Crew Commander for Mars Analog Missions in isolated conditions. Masters degree in cognitive science research from the Polytechnic Institute of Bordeaux, specialized in human factors. ATPL theoretical knowledge Instructor (Human Performance and Limitations, EASA ATO). Passionate about Human, space, exploration, science, STEAM, currently working and writing about psychological aspects of ICE missions (Isolated Confined missions in an Extreme environment) and remote medicine challenges.
Ceo of thulium, full-time graduate student at harvard
Tamara is currently a full-time graduate student in residence at Harvard University pursuing dual degrees at both the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard Divinity School. Her academic research areas of focus are science, technology & public purpose, ethics, transhumanism, existential risk with a scholarly deep dive into ancient apocalyptic texts. Tamara began her career in 1987 as a trauma and critical care nurse. In 1993 she launched bringing new medical technologies to market in Silicon Valley. Tamara is also the founder and CEO of Thulium and serves as a unique advisor to leading global organizations.
consulting inventor, conservation evangelist and charity planner
Dr Greg Dickens is a consulting inventor from Cambridge, UK. His day job is to identify and solve bioengineering, behavioural, and logistical problems in linking human beings to technology. His clients include J&J, Ford, and The North Face. When not tinkering on the border between medicine and engineering, Greg runs a re-wilding charity and can often be found planning/doing sponsored endurance challenges to raise money for conservation – most recently gathering £8,000 by running/biking for 68 hours straight while posting bug-facts to Facebook.
Before moving to Cambridge, Greg escaped from UK professional sport to live in a tiny hut in the West African rainforest. Working as head vet at an in-forest reserve for monkeys and chimpanzees, allowed him to experience very long hours, very uncomfortable conditions, and unreliable access to reliable water and electricity. He enjoyed the challenge, but is glad to be back.
Dr Dickens is a conservation evangelist. In conservation, a species with only one location is considered very much ‘at risk’. He firmly believes that Terrestrial life, led by humanity, needs to become established throughout the solar system if it is to survive in the long-run.
To support this aim, Greg will provide to the project a huge amount of professional expertise in optimising technical systems that include humans, as well as a lot of personal experience with getting the best out of people near the limits of their endurance.
managing director for space in africa, tedx speaker and former space generation advisory council regional coordinator
Temidayo is the Managing Director for Space in Africa, a leading analytics and consulting company focusing on the African space and satellite industry. With about seven years of experience in the industry, Temidayo advises Governments and commercial space players in the African Space Industry value chain. He is a TEDx speaker and regularly appears on various media commenting on the African Space Program. He has a Masters degree in Satellite Applications from the University of Strathclyde Glasgow and has been awarded several times for his work in the industry. Temidayo is a former Space Generation Advisory Council Regional Coordinator for Africa and a 2020 Karman Fellow.
The Off-World Project is a huge step towards the evolution of humanity. Earth is battling so many issues, from overpopulation and extreme poverty to climate change, all of which can be lessened by an exodus to more habitable planets and, even better, can create a better standard of living for people living in extreme environments on earth. These experiments will also contribute to medical knowledge on better fortifying the human body for life out in space, technological sustainability, and a possibly utopian community. There is so much humanity stands to gain both from these experiments’ successes and failures, and seeing such projects emanating from Africa brings joy. Using his expertise and network in the space industry, Temidayo, as a member of the advisory board, will put his weight behind the organisation for institutional support, promotion, and fundraising.
Founder, neuroscientist, and space nerd
Dr Natalie Rens is a founder, neuroscientist, and space nerd. She is CEO and founder of Astreia, a venture building intelligent homes to enable a sustainable future on Earth and Mars. Natalie is also co-founder of Queensland AI, a founding Board Director for Open Data Australia, and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council GeoTech Center, with a focus on ensuring technology for good across the globe.
Natalie formerly served as the Artificial Intelligence Specialist for the Office of the Queensland Chief Entrepreneur, where she developed AI strategy at state and national levels for the Australian government. Natalie holds a PhD in Neuroscience, Master in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, and a Bachelor in Biomedical Science (honors).
COL(ret), MD, FACS, Professor Emeritus of Surgery
COL(ret) Richard Satava, MD, FACS, is Professor Emeritus of Surgery, University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.
Prior academic positions include Professor of Surgery at Yale University and a military appointment as Professor of Surgery (USUHS) in the Army Medical Corps assigned to General Surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Government positions included Program Manager of Advanced Biomedical Technology at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for 12 years and Senior Science Advisor at the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command in Ft. Detrick, Maryland, and Director of the NASA Commercial Space Center for Medical Informatics Telemedicine, and Advanced Technology (NASA-CSC-MITAT) at Yale University. Upon completion of military career and government service he had continued clinical medicine at Yale University and University of Washington.
His undergraduate training was at Johns Hopkins University, Medical School at Hahnemann University of Philadelphia, Internship at the Cleveland Clinic, Surgical Residency at the Mayo Clinic, and a Fellowship with a Master of Surgical Research at Mayo Clinic. He holds a PhD(hon) at Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary and PhD(hon) at Titu Maiorescue University, Bucharest Romania.
He has served on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Committee on Health, Food and Safety and was also awarded the prestigious Department of Defense Legion of Merit and Department of Defense Exceptional Service medals as well as awarded the Smithsonian Laureate in Healthcare. He has been a member of numerous committees of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), currently serving on the ACS-Accredited Education Institutes (ACS-AEI). He is a Past President of the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons (SLS), and the Society of Medical Innovation and Therapy (SMIT). He was a member of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and is currently on the Board of many surgical societies and on the editorial board of numerous surgical and scientific journals, and active in many surgical and engineering societies.
In pioneering research in telepresence surgery, he was the surgeon on the project that developed the first surgical robot, which later became the DaVinci Surgical Robot. He also was the founder of the Medicine Meets Virtual Reality (MMVR) conference and built (with Jaron Lanier), the first VR simulator for surgery (in 1989). Short thereafter, while at DARPA, he funded all robotic surgery research and all VR medical simulation for the first 10 years in the USA.
He was a member of the Advisory Board of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) advising NASA in the use of advanced life science research for astronauts. He funded 2 Expeditions to Mt. Everest (Everest Extreme Expeditions – E3) with daily telemedicine rounds from Mt Everest to Yale University) and also provided support to the Biosphere 2 project. Now Dr. Satava has added being continuously active in surgical education and surgical research, with more than 250 publications and book chapters in diverse areas of advanced surgical technology, including Surgery in the Space Environment, Video and 3-D imaging, Plasma Medicine, Directed Energy Surgery, Telepresence Surgery, Robotic Surgery, Virtual Reality Surgical Simulation, Objective Assessment of Surgical Competence and Training and the Moral and Ethical Impact of Advanced Technologies.
During his 23 years of military surgery he had been an active flight surgeon, an Army astronaut candidate, combat tours of duty as MASH surgeon for the Grenada Invasion, and a hospital commander during Desert Storm, all the while continuing clinical surgical practice. Current research is focused on advanced technologies to formulate the architecture for the next generation of clinical Medicine and Surgery, education and training.
MD, orthopedic microsurgeon, extreme medicine practitioner
A microsurgeon fellowship-trained at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, Ken practices hand surgery in New York, but practices extreme medicine in the remotest regions on Earth: Arctic, Antarctic, Amazon, Africa, Himalayas; in weightlessness aboard NASA zero-gravity flights and undersea in mock space capsules. Doctor on six Everest expeditions, four funded by National Geographic making tectonic measurements, and two by NASA testing remote sensors. Climbed to within 900 vertical feet of the summit and was the only doctor high on the mountain during the epic 1996 disaster. Physician for US Army Kilimanjaro research expedition. Physician on a Norwegian salvage ship using unmanned submersibles to recover Apollo 11 rocket engine from 14,000’ in the mid-Atlantic.
Ken has traveled to the most remote regions of Bhutan under the direction of the Minister of Health to assess health conditions. He went to the Kazakhstan Steppe to interview survivors of Russian Gulag prison camps for a film documentary. He explored caves in the Ukraine that were inhabited by Jewish families hiding from the Nazis during WWII and advised a filmmaker preparing a documentary about it. Most recently, he was on a NASA-funded expedition to make an aerial survey of glacial recession in the Andes and learn how it has affected Quechua culture.
Profiled in NY Times, USA Today, Newsday, US News, and Reader’s Digest. Spoken twice at national TED Talks. Ken has appeared in IMAX, National Geographic, Discovery, and History Channel documentaries; frequent guest on national radio and TV, including NPR’s Fresh Air; TED Radio Hour; BBC World Service; Nightline; Dateline; 48 hours; 20/20; Today Show; Good Morning America; CNN; Fox News; Outdoor Life Network; Live with Regis + Kelly; Arsenio Hall; Bear Gryllis, Xploration Outer Space, William Shatner’s Weird or What; The UneXplained; Larry King; a full hour on Oprah.
Ken has authored two books on survival, Doctor on Everest, and Surviving the Extremes. He writes chapters on wilderness medicine for academic and popular books, and writes columns and feature articles for popular magazines, including National Geographic adventure and Popular Mechanics. He is a former vice president and 18-year director of The Explorers Club, and a former member of the Popular Mechanics Editorial Board of Advisors. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Sea-Space Symposium.
Honors include being named a “Best Doctor” by NY Magazine and by Newsday; a sub-camp named for him at the National Boy Scout Jamboree; the Science Museum of Long Island Lifetime Science Achievement Award; an Explorers Club award for Heroism and Altruism on Everest; the 2009 Lowell Thomas Distinguished Explorer Award, 2014 Explorers Citation of Merit.
survivalist, animal behaviourist
Kurdt Greenwood is a young, dynamic naturalist and animal communicator with a passion for wildlife that knows no bounds. He has been obsessed with deadly creatures since he was 4 years old and his enthusiasm and infectious manner leaves audiences simultaneously terrified and mesmerised. His aim is to bridge the gap between humanity and animals with a gentle approach in a way never before attempted, and to share his knowledge and unique perspective of the wild.
Kurdt grew up on a game farm with wild animals in South Africa, learning his early skills from indigenous people in the region and his grandfather, a game farmer. He studied at Pretoria University, completing a BSc (Hons) in Wildlife Management and Wildlife Conservation, as well as further courses including advanced animal behaviour studies, tracking and rifle handling. After his studies he managed Africa’s biggest private zoo, Hartebeespoort Dam Zoo, and many of Africa’s big five game reserves. Wanting to get more involved with animal behaviour he took on the management of Horseback Africa’s big lion and serval breeding program to try and bring back these majestic cats’ numbers in the wild.
With his knowledge of the bush and animal behaviour, Kurdt set up the South African School of Survival, a big success. Kurdt then went on to film his first series ‘Deadliest South Africa’ for Discovery International and Sky Television, becoming the youngest African to get a series on a major broadcaster. He has raised and worked personally with lions, hyenas, cheetah, leopard, most snakes and lizards of the world, monkeys, apes, buffalo, elephants and most hoofed animals. He also started doing camera work and filmed on a cheetah movie called ‘Sebela: Miracle Cheetah’ for National Geographic. See Kurdt’s YouTube channed for some action.
Kurdt is currently working on a new series that will push human and animal communication to a whole new level where he will live with no supplies alongside the deadliest animals on the planet in the most remote and hostile environments left on Earth to highlight that no matter how dangerous and wild the creature, knowledge can transform fear into a sense of connection and wonder.
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