Matthew Allner received a BS in Biology, a BA in Secondary Education, and a minor in Psychology from Briar Cliff University in 1997. Married his wife (Jessica) in 2000 and they have two wonderful children, Isabelle and Nathan. He is currently finishing his Masters in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota with a thesis development in the area of space psychology and human performance in extreme environments. He has been working as a secondary level science teacher for twelve years now, having taught in California, two school districts in Iowa, and now in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was an active rescue diver and training officer for the Siouxland Dive Rescue Team for three years while in Iowa. As a young scientist he is studying group dynamics in high-risk environments where aspects of research and experience with the dive team he was on, helped him gain experience and insights into the development of suggestions and research in this area. He has also presented science research at the 2006 COSPAR (Bejing, China) and the 2006 IAC (Valencia, Spain). Recently he received NASA sponsorship to present research at the 2008 COSPAR (Montreal, Canada) and the 2008 IAC (Glasgow, Scotland). He has participated in research expeditions to the Atacama Desert in Chile, the Mojave Desert, and to the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah where he furthered his psychology studies of group dynamic development in Isolated Confined Extreme (ICE) environments. Certified in CPR and First-Aid, he also speaks Spanish and is learning Russian. Hobbies include spending time with his family and extreme sports (surfing, climbing, diving, mountain biking, and snowboarding).