I’m currently three-quarters of the way through an M.Sc. Space Studies, which I’m taking by distance at the University of North Dakota while pursuing full-time work at the Ottawa Business Journal.

My focus is on space policy and management, and I will complete a thesis about a Canadian space company. My courses so far have encompassed space mission design, observational astronomy, space policy, commercial space and an independent study on a Canadian satellite.

The university has paid approximately three-quarters of my tuition for academic achievement. During my degree I have helped run The Graduate Forum, which is an annual research event run by the university’s graduate school, and assisted the Space Studies department with the redevelopment of its website.

With one course, one lecture series and a thesis to go, I’m aiming to finish the degree in two years — by August 2012.