Brady O’Connor

Brady O’Connor originally hails from Regina, Saskatchewan, and earned a B.Sc. degree with honours from the University of Regina, spending most of his time conducting microbiology and limnology research. He then moved to McGill University to pursue a Master's and PhD in Microbiology, under the supervision of Dr. Lyle Whyte and Dr. Richard Léveillé. Initially, he studied microbial communities in lava tube, and then shifted the focus of his research to Earth's polar regions. Brady’s current research focuses on understanding how life can adapt and survive in Earth’s most extreme environments. Specifically, he studies whether polar glacial ice can support an active microbial community. Results of this research will help us better predict how the release of these microorganisms due to global warming induced glacial melt will impact surrounding environments. The results can also inform the search for life elsewhere in our solar system on places like Mars, and the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn where large ice deposits exist. Brady is passionate about polar research and extremophile microbiology having undertaken three expeditions to the Canadian High Arctic and most recently, a month-long expedition to Livingston Island in Antarctica. The latter was hosted by the Spanish Polar Committee at the Juan Carlos l Antarctic base and is an experience Brady considers to be the most enriching of his life. In total, he has spent three months conducting research in Earth’s polar regions and is proud to contribute to Canada’s great legacy as a global leader in polar science.