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SKILLUP – Off-World: Above and Beyond – Dr Adriana Marais
August 20, 2019 @ 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
“The reason I want to explore beyond the world as we know it is simple: The allure of the unknown is far more powerful than the comfort of the known.”
In December 2020, Adriana and the Off-World team will depart for an overwinter, off-world settlement simulation experiment in Antarctica to demonstrate community living and off-grid capabilities, from life-support to communication systems, in the harshest and most isolated environment on Earth. Off-World is an initiative of #ProudlyHuman; pioneering new frontiers in research and technology for a sustainable future on Earth, above and beyond.
Adriana is the Founder at #ProudlyHuman, as well as Director at the Foundation for Space Development, an initiative of which is Africa2Moon, to inspire the youth of developing nations, in particular, Africa, to “Reach for the Moon” through education and science. She is also a member of the South African government advisory task team on the 4th Industrial Revolution, Faculty at the SingularityUniversity and Duke Corporate Education, and an astronaut candidate with the Mars One Project.
Adriana holds an MSc (summa cum laude) in quantum cryptography and a PhD in quantum biology. Her postdoctoral research focused on quantum effects in photosynthesis as well as the origins of prebiotic molecules and life itself. She is currently pursuing a second PhD in economics in resource-constrained environments at the University of Cape Town.
more about her: https://www.adrianamarais.org