Results: Roberta Lynn Bondar, CC, OOnt, FRSC, astronaut, neurologist, physician, educator, photographer. Bondar became the first Canadian woman and second Canadian in space when she flew aboard the American space shuttle Discovery in 1992

Roberta was interested in space as a child: "When I was eight years old, to be a spaceman was the most exciting thing I could imagine." She was given a camera when she was young, which sparked her interest in photography. She was involved in sports, Girls Guides, the YMCA, and church groups in her youth. Bondar was also very interested in science; her father built a laboratory in their basement so she could conduct experiments. She led the science team at her high school (Sir James Dunn Collegiate and Vocational School) and received honorable mention at the Canada Wide Science Fair in Grade 13. Were you good at Science when you went to school?

Bondar spent summers working as a science researcher with the federal Department of Fisheries and Forestry in Sault Ste Marie. Her high school guidance counsellor tried to dissuade her from pursuing science in university, believing that it wasn't a subject for girls, but Bondar persisted. In 1968, she also received her pilot's license. Were you ever discouraged from pursuing a field of interest in High School or College?

Roberta Bondar received a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology and agriculture from the University of Guelph in 1968, a Master of Science degree in experimental pathology from the University of Western Ontario in 1971, a doctorate in neurobiology from the University of Toronto in 1974, a Doctor of Medicine degree from McMaster University in 1977 and was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in neurology in 1981. She has certification in scuba diving and parachuting. Have you ever:

Roberta Bondar worked as a clinical science researcher and neurologist, a doctor who specializes in the nervous system. She completed post-graduate work at Toronto General Hospital, the University of Western Ontario, Tufts New England Medical Center (Boston), and the Playfair Neuroscience Unit of Toronto Western Hospital. She was admitted as a Fellow to the Royal College of Physicians in 1981 for neurology. Bondar was an assistant professor of medicine (neurology) at McMaster University from 1982 to 1984. She worked for six years for the then federal Fisheries and Forestry Department on genetics of the spruce budworm with reference to the visual system. Dr. Bondar specialized in Carotid Doppler and Transcranial Doppler, at the Pacific Vascular Institute, in Seattle, Washington, 1988. She has also served as a member of the Ontario Premier's Council on Science and Technology, as a civil aviation medical examiner and as a member of the scientific staff of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. Have you ever worked in:

In 1983, the National Research Council of Canada created the Canadian Astronaut Program (now part of the Canadian Space Agency) to recruit Canada's first astronauts. Roberta Bondar applied immediately. After six months of interviews and tests, she was chosen as one of six Canadians admitted to the program. In February 1984, Bondar moved to Ottawa and began her astronaut training, which would eventually take her to NASA in Houston, Texas. While still in the astronaut program, she held other positions in Canadian universities and hospitals. Her research and clinical work on the nervous system had immediate relevance to experiments planned for the first Canadian spaceflight. In 1985 she was named chairperson of the Canadian Life Sciences Subcommittee for Space Station. She conducted research into blood flow in the brain during microgravity, lower body negative pressure and various pathological states. Have you ever applied for a job, that had many candidates and went thru several interviews to get the position?

In early 1990, she was designated a prime Payload Specialist for the first International Microgravity Laboratory Mission (IML-1). Dr. Bondar flew on Discovery during Mission STS-42, January 22-30, 1992 where she performed experiments in the Spacelab and on the middeck. Dr. Roberta Bondar left the Canadian Space Agency effective September 4, 1992, to pursue her research. A doctor specializing in the nervous system, she is a pioneer in space medicine research. Bondar is also an exhibited and published nature photographer. She established The Roberta Bondar Foundation to educate people about environmental protection through art, and she currently serves as one of the organization's directors. Were you aware of Dr. Roberta Bondar prior to this survey?