Dr Sarah Kessans is an Associate Professor in the School of Product Design at the University of Canterbury. As a biochemist and synthetic biologist with a passion for space exploration, Sarah is working to create solutions for sustaining life both on and off Earth, as well as developing the technology that will make this possible. Prior arriving in Aotearoa in 2012, Sarah completed a BSc in Plant Biology at Purdue University and a PhD in Molecular Biology at Arizona State University. A progression through NASA’s 2017 Astronaut Candidate selection process inspired her to expand her research expertise to establish a microgravity research sector in New Zealand. Sarah is currently leading two research teams: one which is utilising synthetic biology to generate fungal systems delivering methane inhibitors to pasture-based agriculture and the other which is developing automated research facilities for biotechnology and pharmaceutical experimentation in microgravity.