Diverse in careers from scientist, physician, astronaut, photographer and author to entrepreneur, Dr. Roberta Bondar is a much sought-after speaker who embodies the spirit that captures change, life-long learning, transferable skills and adaptability. Dr. Bondar’s earned degrees include a BSc (zoology and agriculture), MSc (experimental pathology), PhD (neurobiology) and an MD. She is certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in neurology (University of Western Ontario) with a subspecialty in neuro-ophthalmology (Tufts New England Medical Center and Toronto Western Hospital) and is a USA trained and certified Advanced and Basic Disaster Life Support Instructor.

Dr. Roberta Bondar, the world’s first neurologist in space is globally recognized for her pioneering contribution to space medicine research. Aboard the first Discovery mission of 1992, she conducted science experiments in the space shuttle’s First International Microgravity Laboratory on behalf of 14 countries. For more than a decade with NASA Dr. Bondar headed an international medical research team supporting over two dozen missions on the space shuttle and MIR, continuing to find new connections between astronauts recovering from the microgravity of space and neurological illnesses here on Earth such as Parkinson’s disease. These techniques have been used in clinical studies at the B. I. Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and at the University of New Mexico. 

A true renaissance woman, Dr. Bondar trained in Professional Nature Photography at the Brooks Institute of Photography, Santa Barbara, CA, and is an acclaimed photographer of the natural wonders of our planet. Roberta Bondar has written four photographic essay books including: Touching the Earth, Passionate Vision ~ Discovering Canada’s National Parks, Canada ~ Landscapes of Dreams and The Arid Edge of Earth.  

Dr. Bondar’s large fine art photographic prints are exhibited by the Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver, The Art Gallery of Algoma, Sault Ste. Marie, First Canadian Place, Toronto, and Hoopers Gallery, London, UK. Her works are held in private, corporate and institutional collections in Canada, the USA and England. 

Named by TIME magazine as one of North America’s best explorers, Dr. Bondar has been recognized with the NASA space Medal, Officer of the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario and is a Laureate of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame and of the International Women’s Forum Hall of Fame. She has received 24 honorary degrees from North American universities and is featured on the 2003 Canada Post Roberta Bondar astronaut stamp. In 2009, Concordia University awarded her the Loyola Medal in recognition of her leadership and commitment to the environment and education. Dr. Bondar has recently completed her second term as Chancellor of Trent University in Peterborough, Canada. There are five schools in Canada named after Dr. Bondar in recognition of her pioneering leadership in space, medicine and the environment, with the most recent officially opened in 2009.