A University of Guelph graduate is among 17 finalists in the running to become Canada’s next two astronauts.

Matthew Bamsey, who earned a PhD in environmental biology at U of G, was among finalists named April 24 by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) from more than 3,700 original applicants.

University of Guelph physics PhD candidate Scott VanBommel and alumnus Olathe Macintyre, who works as a scientist at the Sudbury, Ont. planetarium, were also among the 72 astronaut candidates shortlisted by the CSA early this year.

The CSA will select two individuals this summer for astronaut training to begin this year in Houston, Texas. It could be years before the new recruits go into space.

Bamsey, who studied with environmental sciences professor Mike Dixon, is a chief systems engineer with the EDEN International Space Station Project at the German Aerospace Center in Bremen.

Project researchers are developing a greenhouse to be sent to a German Antarctic research station called Neumayer III. The greenhouse will provide station researchers with fresh food year-round while they test technologies to sustain astronauts on long-duration space missions.

“I studied environmental biology because for long-duration space flight, closing up the water, air and food loops will be crucial, and plants can do all three,” said Bamsey in his CSA profile.

“This integration of technology and biology (plants and humans) means research in this field is always interesting. The pull of space technology required for space greenhouses can also provide considerable benefit here terrestrially.”