About the Speaker
Alain Berinstain
Director of Space Astronomy and Planetary Exploration
Alain Berinstain was born in Montreal and holds a Bachelor's degree in chemistry and biochemistry and a doctorate in chemistry, specializing on the effects of radiation on biological systems. Alain also holds a Master of Space Studies from the International Space University.
Alain first joined the Canadian Space Agency in 1997 where he managed micro gravity science projects in the areas of protein crystallization and in fluid physics., He managed several missions for science payloads to the US Space Shuttle and to the Russian space station Mir.
Since 2001, Alain has carried out the responsibilities of Program Scientist for the Space Exploration program. In this position, he acts as the interface to the scientific community in the area of planetary studies and heads the program development in this area.
More recently he has added the responsibility of acting director of planetary exploration and space astronomy. As leader of this group, Alain is responsible for science missions such as those that explore Mars, analog sites on earth, and astronomy missions such as MOST.