My space journey started at the end of university. My undergraduate degree is in outdoor adventure, recreation, and tourism. So I started to wonder if it’s possible for me to get into space through this route. My journey took me around the world as an expedition guide, which led me to working with National Geographic and Lindbald Expeditions in extreme environments—in the Arctic, Antarctic, diving at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and faciliating work with different scientists.

I remember asking myself what I wanted to do if I could do anything in the world, and the answer was scientific endeavours for the deep ocean and space. There are a lot of correlations between the ocean and space.

This 1961 pilot’s regulator was the first thing that got me into space. So it has this kind of design of the early Apollo and Gemini era. It has history to it. 

And these analog regulators are still used to this day, because they’re so rugged and robust. And another connection for me is that regulators like this one actually started scuba diving.