Andres Käosaar, MA, a UCF Doctoral student of psychology and Graduate Research Assistant with the IST’s Team Research and Adaptability in Complex Environments (TRACE) Lab, is planning an epic adventure in late 2025.

Representative of the determination and difficult problem-solving attitude of those at the IST, Käosaar and his three teammates will be the first team from Estonia to take on the challenge dubbed the “World’s Toughest Row.” For nearly three decades, the annual event has been an extreme open-water rowing race that takes participants from the Canary Islands across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. The grueling ordeal, which lasts almost 40 days, involves covering around 3,000 miles at sea, unassisted.

“As an adventurer and doctoral candidate in space psychology,” says Käosaar, “my roots are in Estonia, but my journey led me to Florida in 2021 to be closer to NASA.” As he pursues his education to hopefully one day be an industrial and organizational psychologist on a space station, or even the moon, he lives by the philosophy that boundaries “are meant to be pushed, and through my adventures, I aim to illustrate that with determination, the seemingly impossible becomes achievable.”

This past January, Käosaar traveled to Antarctica’s King George Island. He joined a Swiss colleague on a 21-day research mission to study how people from different countries work together in this unique and extreme environment. The avid scuba diver, surfer, snowboarder, kayaker, mountain climber, skier, and ultramarathon runner seeks to blend his desire for adventure with real-world challenges. From a recent UCF magazine article on Käosaar, the writer states, “As an aspiring NASA psychologist, Käosaar’s doctoral work investigates how variations in traditions and social norms of people from different countries influence shared mental models — an especially fitting topic for an international student. He’s also interested in how isolation and extreme conditions impact individuals’ well-being and teamwork dynamics.”

On the journey across the Atlantic, Käosaar will put his extreme research to the test. He says, “In my role as a teamwork psychologist, I navigate multiple facets — I’m the initiator, the motivator, and sometimes, the voice of reason. My goal is to maintain harmony within the team, addressing any emerging tensions thoughtfully and effectively.”

The TRACE Lab, where Käosaar serves as a Graduate Research Assistant, focuses on maximizing individual and team performance in complex and high-stakes environments through a team-centered approach to training, learning, and assessment. Members conduct research to examine the key mechanisms underlying team effectiveness and the methods through which to facilitate team effectiveness.

You can learn more, support the journey, track its progress, and discover more about the team and their custom row vehicle by visiting https://atlandisoudjad.ee/en.