InterGovWorld's Spotlight series profiles Executives, decision-makers and their initiatives across all levels of Canadian government.
(CSA Photo)Q) Can you discuss your own educational background?
A) I never suspected when I was in school that I would end up working within Canada's space program and for the Canadian Space Agency. First of all the Canadian Space Agency didn't exist (at that time), and the notion never entered my mind. I was always interested in the way the brain works, and the way it understands language.
For me teaching was a very natural and integral part of my life, my mother was a teacher, I was a ski instructor, so there was a natural ability there but also a natural affinity. I also love watching people learn. And then of course the other side of my life was business, because my father was a businessman and he integrated me into that part of his life. I took all these experiences and all the academic experience, mixed them together and found myself with this wonderful opportunity to come and work at CSA and implement all the different things that I loved - all in one place.
I walk in here on a daily basis and I have the pleasure and honour of learning not only new things but things I never would have otherwise thought about from people who are not only not arrogant, but who have no idea about the level of ingenuity that they bring to this country. Not only do I get to share everything that I know and have this great opportunity to make something really positive happen but on a more personal level, I get to bring it home with me. When I sit around the dinner table with my three children, and my husband, the kinds of discussions we have just because of where I work are extraordinary and so very different from anything that I experienced myself as a child.
Q) It sounds like you love what you're doing and have a real passion for it. What would you say has been the highlight since joining CSA?
A) There've been so many. I'll give you one highlight from a technology perspective. 2001 was a pretty hard year for the whole world. Well, about 10 days after 9/11 I got a call from the Prime Minister's Office, and there was going to be a celebration of 100 years of the Marconi Signal, and there were 500 delegates coming in from all over the world to St. John's, Nfld.
We had decided that we were going to offer the first Canadian classroom from the international space station. This was a session where the commander of the Expedition 3 mission would be teaching students across our country about the concept of inertia.
We had these 500 delegates from all over the world; as well as the Minister of Industry at the time (Brian Tobin), Prime Minister Chretien, and the former premier of Newfoundland. They were all in the same place at the same time in this highly charged environment where everybody was really questioning what the world's future would be like. We had students from St. John's in the audience, and had 70,000 students across the country participating by webcast. From a technology perspective it was the most challenging thing I'd ever done.
I've never before seen this and haven't seen it since - we had people in the audience crying, because they were seeing the potential for the future at a time when they were questioning what the future would be. I would have to say that that was really very special. We're the only country in the world that's done a classroom from the space station. We've done some very interesting things.
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To visit the Canadian Space Agency's web site, click here.
To visit Industry Canada's web site, click here.
To visit the Government of Alberta Education web site, click here.
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