FARPOINT 2023 Science Guests as of 11/13/22:
Dr. Charles Blue
Dr. Inge Heyer
Stephen Lesnik
Dr. Valerie J. Mikles
Dr. Tim Miller
Dr. Seth Rittenhouse
Adeena Mignogna
Tom Hill
Dr. Charles Adler
Ken Carpenter
Steve Rifkin
Farpoint is excited to host another exciting program of stellar subjects! We think there is something for everyone. From the scientists of the Chromatics telling us about JWST (complete with songs) and a retrospective on all the HST has achieved, to the life cycle of stars and neutron stars, we have lots of hard science for your consideration. Yet we are all fans, and to that end we feature a talk about the science behind The Expanse and where is the science in all that fiction?
While the schedule below is not yet set in concrete, it is solid and we do not expect it to change at this point. If changes are necessary, we will update this page as soon as we anything.
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Friday, 10 February, 2023 |
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5 PM |
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Saturday, 11 February, 2023 |
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Presenter |
Topic |
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10 AM |
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11 AM |
The DART Mission: Testing Planetary Defense via Asteroid Deflection |
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12 PM |
Getting Started in Deep Sky Astrophotography … An Absolute Beginner’s Guide |
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1 PM |
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2 PM |
Dr. Padi Boyd |
New Eye in the Sky: Engineering and Science Update for NASA’s Powerful JWST |
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3 PM |
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4 PM |
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5 PM |
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Sunday, 12 February, 2023 |
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Presenter |
Topic |
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10 AM |
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11 AM |
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12 PM |
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1 PM |
Hubble Space Telescope: Highlights from 32+ Years of Observing the Universe |
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Presentation Descriptions
Practical IT Security for Your Mobile Devices
Your mobile devices are your best friends. They remind you of things you need to do, provide you entertainment, connect you to others in your social circle, serve as your retail store, act as your safari guide, and occasionally act as a telephone. But they are also insidious spies, tattletales, and potential thieves. Come discuss ways to ensure our silicon friends are not betrayers in disguise. We’ll discuss common mobile security issues and remedies to keep you safer when using these devices.
Weather Satellites: Saving the World from Low-Earth Orbit
How much warning did you get before the last blizzard? Come learn about the recently launched NOAA-21/JPSS-2 and the constellation weather satellites in low-Earth orbit. Hear how new tech is fueling new science, allowing us to track hurricanes at night, predict river flooding from melted ice, and better warn us about other impending hazards.
The DART Mission: Testing Planetary Defense via Asteroid Deflection
NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission successfully impacted with a steroid Dimorphos on September 26, 2022. DART is the first test of planetary defense via kinetic deflection. Dr. Miller will update us on the latest results from DART, and describe NASA’s planetary defense program in general, including contrasts between Hollywood versions of the concept and what is now the real thing …
Getting Started In Deep Sky Astrophotography … An Absolute Beginner’s Guide
Learn the basics about getting started with imaging deep sky objects such as galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters. We will discuss the types of equipment, software, and processes that go into making astro images. You’ll see real (“out of this”) world examples of astrophotography that were taken from a driveway in the suburbs of Baltimore as you learn about some of the challenges and triumphs you may encounter as you enter this rewarding craft that mixes science and photography with the beauty of the universe!
Quantum Weirdness and Local Realism
In the microscopic domain of electrons, atoms, and molecules, the rules that we are used to start breaking down and the world of quantum mechanics takes over. The inherently probabilistic behavior of this world is so bizarre that even Einstein thought it had to be incorrect, leading him to postulate that there must be so called “hidden variables”. The work of proving him wrong led to the 2022 Nobel Prize in physics and planted the seeds of today’s revolution in quantum technology.
New Eye in the Sky: Engineering and Science Update for NASA’s Powerful JWST
Come hear what Chromatics members, Padi Boyd and Scott Rohrbach, have to say about JWST engineering and the science that remarkable instrument is accomplishing. The Chromatics as a whole will support the talk by singing related songs, thereby employing both vocation and avocation to give us a most enjoyable picture of the state of JWST and the advanced exploration it is doing.
Neutron Stars: The Limits of Physics
Neutron stars are often treated as the foster children of black holes. Exploring neutron stars reveals fascinating physical phenomena including magnetic forces seen nowhere else in the universe. Recent discoveries from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) have increased our knowledge of the structure and evolution of neutron stars.
Just Because We Went To The Moon, Doesn’t Mean It’s Easy
Without the use of any modern computing equipment, NASA put several men on the moon and returned them home safely. Several times. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. In fact, it might even be harder now! Come learn why!
The Life Cycle of Stars
Stars have a cycle of life, just like anything alive does. The difference is that stars’ cycles take millions and often billions of years. We will follow this cycle from the beginning that all stars have in common to the diverse possible ends, as visualized by the latest results from the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes. Come join us for this astronomical journey!
The Science of the Expanse
The Expanse books and television series tell a story of near-future humans living in space as part of an interconnected economy. While the authors have to take some liberties with technology, as a whole the story contains some of the most realistic depictions of spaceflight ever done. Tom Hill, a practicing aerospace engineer and Expanse fan, will discuss the many things done right and a few things that miss the mark in areas like propulsion, orbital mechanics, and communications. Discussion is encouraged.
The Loss of the Night Sky — What Light Pollution and Satellites Constellations are Doing to Our Views of the Cosmos
Recent studies by citizen scientists have revealed that our ability to see the fine details in the night sky is diminishing faster than expected. Also, the growth of communication-satellite constellations are posing challenges for professional and amateur astronomers and astrophotographers. The potential impact on radio astronomy could also be extreme.
Where is the science in all that fiction?
Sussing the science in science fiction
Hubble Space Telescope: Highlights from 32+ Years of Observing the Universe
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has explored our entire Universe from nearby objects in our Solar System to distant galaxies near the beginning of time for more than 3 decades now. We will look back at some of its most important and beautiful results and images and how they have impacted us for so many years. We will also note how Hubble and JWST are joining forces to further our explorations of our incredible Universe.
Presenter Biographies
Dr. Charles Adler is a physics professor at St Mary’s College of Maryland; he has done research in a variety of areas of Physics including atmospheric optics, atomic physics, and Physics pedagogy. He has written over 40 research papers, and is the author of the popular book Wizards, Aliens and Starships: Physics and Math in Fantasy and Science Fiction. He has a course for the Great Courses lecture series, “How Science Shapes Science Fiction”, and has given a number of other popular lectures, including “Where is the Science in All That Fiction?” (Rensselaer Polytechnic University and other venues), “Let’s Design a Dragon!” (Duke University), “Particle Fever and the Grandfather Paradox: Physics for Everyone” {Kavli Conversations on Communicating Science, with Dr. Mark Levinson), and “Cylons, T2’s and the Borg! Oh my!” {YHouse lecture, Manhattan, New York, with Dr. Bow van Riper). He is a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy, beginning with watching Star Trek reruns when he was 7, and hopes one day to write his own work.
Charles Blue is the Director of Media Relations at the Association for Psychological Science. He has more than 20 years of experience communicating the wonders and discoveries of science, engineering, and technology. Charles has worked as the director of media services at the American Institute of Physics. He also served as the Writer/Editor for the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Engineering and the media relations specialist for the Thirty Meter Telescope Project. He is a member of the National Association of Science Writers, the American Astronomical Society, the American Geophysical Union, and past-president of the DC Science Writers Association. Charles also is an avid martial artist, sea chantey singer, and fitness instructor.
Dr. Patricia T. Boyd is the Chief of the Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory in the Astrophysics Science Division, and the Project Scientist for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Mission (a NASA Explorer Mission launched in 2018). She has been at Goddard since 1993, when she was a USRA visiting scientist with the High Speed Photometer and Polarimeter Team aboard the Hubble Space Telescope, studying the optical and ultraviolet polarization seen in X-ray binaries, pulsars and active galaxies.
In 1995, Boyd joined the Monitoring X-ray Experiment team, an X-ray all-sky monitor that was in development and testing as part of the Russian-led Spectrum X-Gamma mission. In 1997, she joined the Rossi X-ray Timing Experiment Guest Observer Facility performing science support for that mission. From 2003 to 2008, she managed that facility, as well as the Swift Science Center.
Padi spent a two-year detail at NASA Headquarters in Washington as the program scientist for the Kepler mission. While at NASA Headquarters, she was also the NASA point of contact for the MOST U.S. Guest Observer program and also served as a discipline scientist for X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy. She was also the Program Officer for the Origins of Solar Systems Exoplanets program.
Since returning to Goddard in 2010, she has held a number of positions including Deputy Project Scientist for Operations of the Hubble Space Telescope, Associate Chief of the Astroparticle Physics Laboratory, Acting Deputy Director of the Astrophysics Division, and Associate Director of the Astrophysics Division.
Her research interests focus on applying traditional and novel time series and spectral analysis techniques to uncover the drivers of stellar variability, and accretion in compact binaries and active galaxies, using data from a variety of space telescopes.
Dr. Kenneth Carpenter is currently the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Operations Project Scientist and the Ground Systems Scientist for the Roman Space Telescope (RST) and is a member of the “Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory” at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. He enjoys photography and is an enthusiastic fan of exploration of the Universe in which we live, the Maryland RenFest, and all things Trek and Disney. Carpenter credits NASA’s early space program, Star Trek and the 1964-’65 New York World’s Fair, which he attended as a child, with fueling his desire to work for NASA. He has been a speaker at various Star Trek and media cons, including Denver StarFest, Maryland’s Shore Leave, and Atlanta’s DragonCon.
Inge Heyer, Ph.D., has spent decades developing a unique expertise in astronomy communications across a variety of settings, including college classrooms, K-12 schools, informal educational settings, professional scientific journalism, and science fiction venues. Born and raised in Berlin, Germany, she completed her secondary education there before accepting a scholarship to attend Tenri University (Japan), where she studied Japanese. After later earning an undergraduate degree in Astronomy and Physics from Smith College, she earned a Master’s degree in Astronomy from the University of Hawai`i at Manoa, and a Ph.D. in Science Education from the University of Wyoming.
In addition to her professional work as senior data analyst at the Space Telescope Science Institute, Dr. Heyer also served as Deputy Press Officer for the American Astronomical Society and as the public information officer at the Joint Astronomy Centre, where she led the education and public outreach efforts. She has earned Shodan in both Judo and Karate and contributes as guest science blogger to StarTrek.com.
Dr. Heyer currently teaches astronomy and physics at Loyola University of Maryland.
Tom Hill started saying he wanted to be an aerospace engineer when he was six. Alive but not aware for Apollo, he grew up reading the stories of Apollo and of science fiction, knowing he wanted to work on spacecraft. After high school, he attended Penn State University on an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship and graduated with a degree in aerospace engineering. Called to active duty in 1991, his first assignment was at Schriever (then Falcon) Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. There he worked on military weather and missile warning satellites, and helped get 13 of the original operational 24 Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites into orbit.
His next assignment took him to Turkey, where he used RADAR to track satellites for Cheyenne Mountain. Serving there for a year, he tracked several space shuttle missions to the Russian space station Mir and even tracked the oldest object still in orbit, Vanguard 1.
After Turkey, he went to Vandenberg Air Force Base to work in launch. He served as the launch controller for a weather satellite, sitting in the last on-site blockhouse in the Air Force as a Titian II lifted off the pad. He assisted with other launches including a Delta II rocket and a Titan IV.
At this point he was married with a kid on the way, so Tom separated from the Air Force and went to work in the aerospace industry. He stayed in the Air Force Reserves, assigned part-time to two positions at the Pentagon and retired in 2014 as a Lieutenant Colonel. At his new company he worked with a new version of a weather satellite called the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite or GOES, being involved in the system from a critical design review through serving as a test director for the on-orbit satellite. He also worked with two land survey satellites called LandSat 5 and LandSat 7. One was launched in 1984 and served for years. The other had launched in 1999 (while Tom was at Vandenberg) and was going strong as well. His work has involved international cooperation for an early form of space traffic control, early efforts for NASA’s space asset protection, and reviews of several spacecraft in their design process. He’s written two books: “Space: What Now?”, a non-fiction book examining space policy options after the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia, and “I want to go to Mars”, an illustrated children’s book about a young girl imagining what life would be like on the red planet. He’s also written several articles for print and web media.
Tom is married to Deborah, and they have two grown children. His wife and daughter are attending the convention with him today.
Stephen Lesnik (CISSP-ISSEP-ISSMP, CCSP, CEH, CASP+, CySA+) has been in the cybersecurity and education fields for over forty years. He has a history of working with both government and commercial organizations providing network development, systems engineering, and security engineering to big and small customers. He has provided both corporate and collegiate education, teaching both specific capabilities and broad concepts in computing and cybersecurity, and has worked with independent professional organizations in the development of professionally recognized certification exams. He is a founding member of the (ISC)2 Chapter in Annapolis Junction, Maryland, and outside of his professional career, Stephen is an avid Science Fiction fan who has assisted with running many many media, literary, and costume-oriented conventions over the years.
Adeena Mignogna is a physicist and astronomer (by degree) working in aerospace as a Mission Architect, which just means she’s been doing it so long they had to give her a fun title. More importantly, she’s a long-time science fiction geek with a strong desire to inspire others through speaking and writing about robots, aliens, artificial intelligence, computers, longevity, exoplanets, virtual reality, and more. She writes science fiction novels, to include The Robot Galaxy Series (available on Amazon), and loves spending time with her fellow co-hosts of The BIG Sci-Fi Podcast (available wherever you listen to podcasts)!
Dr. Valerie Mikles is a PhD astronomer who defected from academia to work on weather satellites for NOAA, hovering between science and engineering. I’m also a self-published author and have many sci-fi space opera novels. I am active in community theater as an actor, choreographer, costumer, and stage manager. I also has a few YouTube channels with short films and music videos, many themed around asexuality and queer identity. My motto in life is that I can be everything I want, just not all at the same time.
Dr. Timothy Miller, is the Chief Scientist of the Seeker and Information Processing Group at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, MD, where he works on various NASA space and astrophysics projects. While hunting astrophysical neutrinos earlier in his career, he traveled to Antarctica six times and to Greenland once. He also received a NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) grant to look at measuring the depth of the ice sheets on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, a possible first step toward the search for life on such moons, by detecting the interactions of ultra-high energy neutrinos from an orbiting spacecraft. He’s recently served as the Image Analysis Lead on the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, NASA’s first asteroid deflection mission.
Steve Rifkin fell in love with astronomy back in his teen years. He purchased his first telescope around age 16 so that he could view all kinds of astro objects. A few years ago, Steve decided he didn’t just want to look at images through an eyepiece, he wanted to take them away with him as a photographic record of what he saw through his telescope. And so, his journey into the ups and downs (and ups again) world of Deep Sky Astrophotography began. When he’s not behind a telescope, Steve works in the IT field, runs his own recording studio (and sings!), is an amateur radio operator, does some microphotography, as well as a bit of indie film acting, and of course, spends time with his family.
Dr. Seth Rittenhouse is a theoretical physicist specializing in describing the weird behavior of atoms and molecules at the coldest temperatures in the universe. After getting his PhD from the University of Colorado, he spent some time at Harvard University and the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics as a postdoctoral fellow before moving around some and settling at his current position as an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at the United States Naval Academy. Besides physics, he enjoys spending time tinkering in his workshop and watching terrible Netflix movies with his partner.
Dr. Scott O. Rohrbach is an optical Engineer working at NASA Goddard. Dr. Rohrbach graduated with his Baccalaureate in Physics from Clark University in MA and obtained his PhD in Physics from the University of Albany, SUNY.
Scott has a strong interest in music and is part of The Chromatics acapella singing group. A tenor-baritone, Scott was the first new Chromatic in 11 years, bringing another scientific mind to the group. He has a high energy groove, and a high frequency voice, but enjoys the occasional ballad when things get a little too excited. He’s been writing original astronomy songs and parodies galore and is amazingly proficient at transcribing music into software, helping us all learn more quickly!
Dr. Willie Yee is an amateur astronomer, past president and member of the Board of Directors of the Mid-Hudson Astronomical Association. He presently is a Solar System Ambassador, a program supported by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. Dr Yee also presents a Star Trek-themed interactive magic act as the Vulcan S’kai. He was part of the crew of Star Trek New Voyages / Phase II. He has studied at the McBride Magic and Mystery School in Las Vegas. He has presented the Starship Magic show at numerous SF and astronomical gatherings, both in person and online.
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Friday, 25 February, 2022 |
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4 PM |
SmallSats and the Miniaturization of Space-based Observatories |
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5 PM |
Planetary Defense: Defending the Earth from Hazardous Asteroids |
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Saturday, 26 February, 2022 |
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10 AM |
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11 AM |
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12 PM |
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1 PM |
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2 PM |
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Sunday, 27 February, 2022 |
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12 PM |
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1 PM |
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Presentation Descriptions
SmallSats and the Miniaturization of Space-based Observatories
From SmallSats to MicroSats, we are testing the limits of launching
practical and powerful new observatories in tiny containers. Are
these swarms of tiny satellites poised to take over for our large,
multi-purpose observatories? Dr. Valerie Mikles talks about her work
with the current flagship weather satellites, and looks at how these
new miniature wonders can change the future.
Planetary Defense: Defending the Earth from Hazardous Asteroids
This presentation will provide some background on potentially hazardous asteroids, recent Earth impacts, and NASA’s activities to help
protect Earth from asteroids. The presentation will describe NASA’s
Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission as well as share
information on the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Hera mission.
DART will be the first demonstration of the kinetic impactor
technique to change the motion of an asteroid in space.
The Space Junk Crisis — an Update
Since the dawn of the space age, junk left in orbit by space missions has
accumulated, threatening existing and new missions with random
collisions at artillery velocities. The problem is acknowledged by
many space+faring nations, but solutions are in embryonic stages,
negligible compared with the scale of the threat. It’s a growing
crisis, endangering astronauts and expensive, vital space vehicles.
In this talk, I will review the status and proposed solutions for
this problem.
Ransomware Revealed
One of the top Cybersecurity threats keeping companies, governments, and the general populous up at night is Ransomware. In this presentation, information about this scourge of the Internet is revealed. Attendees will learn about the general types of Ransomware, how it gets in to damage systems and holds them for ransom, the underlying ecosystem that supports it and enriches criminals, some details on how it
functions, and some measures that can be taken to prevent being one
of the growing list of victims. Join us to get some knowledge and
help save yourself some restless nights.
Famous Eclipses in Science Fiction
A total eclipse of the Sun is one of the most wondrous events Mother
Nature provides for Earthlings. Given the tremendous emotional power
of natural events, one wonders if creative science fiction authors
have found intriguing ways to bring the wonder of eclipses to
illuminate and add to the story they are trying to tell. As it turns
out, solar eclipses are common in the science fiction genre, and make
for a wonderful story telling addition.
What’s New in the World of Dinosaurs in 2022
Learn about the latest discoveries from the fossil record of Earth’s most magnificent ancient beasts.
Looking at Bacteria on the International Space Station
Although physics predicts that bacteria are too small to respond to a
gravitational field, experiments have shown that exposure to
micro gravity changes how bacteria grow, including influencing their
virulence. This has important implications for astronaut health, and
so it is important to study bacteria on the ISS. We are preparing a
microscope to fly and image bacterial growth and motility, and here I
discuss some of the challenges involved with preparing such an
experiment for space.
Astronomy Update — JWST, Mars, and Exoplanets
We will discuss the latest exciting developments and discoveries of
select astronomy missions. This will include the launch, journey (so
far), and future plans of the James Webb Space Telescope, the
activities of the currently deployed and active rovers on Mars, and
the latest on planets around other stars (exoplanets).
Moons of the Solar System
The planets of our solar system harbor hundreds of moons. We will examine each planet’s moon system and how NASA missions have explored them. The uniqueness of Earth’s Moon will be explored.
Presenter Biographies
Paul Abell
is the Chief Scientist for Small Body Exploration in the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. His main areas of interest are physical characterization of near-Earth objects (NEOs) via
ground-based and spacecraft observations, examination of NEOs for future robotic and human exploration, mitigation of potentially hazardous asteroids and comets, and identification of potential resources within the NEO population for future in situ utilization.
He was a science team member on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa near-Earth asteroid sample-return mission and participated in the successful recovery of the spacecraft‘s sample return capsule, which returned to Woomera, Australia in June 2010. Paul is currently a team member of the Hayabusa2 mission and is
aiding the cooperation between Hayabusa2 and NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft teams as they investigate and sample their respective near-Earth asteroids.
Since 2006 Paul has been a member of an internal NASA team that has been examining the possibility of sending astronauts to NEOs for human missions. He is also an investigation team member on both NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) and Near-Earth Object Survey or Mission (NEOSM) planetary defense missions, and a team member
on ESA’s own planetary defense mission named Hera. Asteroid 8139 (1980 UM1) is named Paulabell in recognition of Paul’s contributions to NEO research and exploration studies.
Dr. David Batchelor
earned his undergraduate B.S. in Physics from MIT and his Ph. D. in physics from UNC-Chapel Hill. The Ph. D. was for research on solar flares atGoddard Space Flight Center as part of the science team for NASA’s
Solar Maximum Mission spacecraft. He later was hired by NASA and was
employed at Goddard from 1988 through 2019. He has performed
scientific research in medical physics, and in astrophysics and
elementary particle physics at NASA. He also managed educational web
software development, and joined in space mission proposal writing.
He served as a Radiation Physicist (forecasting the solar and cosmic
radiation doses that may be encountered by NASA space missions). He
was also an adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Maryland
University College, where he taught Introduction to Physical Sciences
for six semesters.
His article The Science in Star Trek is the most-read article
about that topic on the Internet, and has been widely republished.
Consequently he has been consulted on futurist topics by Wired
Online, The Economist, Star Trek Communicator, The San Francisco
Chronicle, National Geographic Online, NBC Nightly News, and numerous other publications. He and William Shatner were guests on Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Star Talk on the National Geographic Channel, 2016 December 19.
His first science fiction novel, The Metalmark Contract, was published in
2011 by Black Rose Writing. He has been working on part 2 of the
Metalmark saga. His first science fiction short story was published
in the April 2015 issue of Communications of the Association for
Computing Machines. In January 2020, he was hired by Northrop Grumman Corp. as a Senior Principal Engineer, and he analyzes spacecraft electronic parts to ensure that space radiation will not disable
them. He and his wife Laurie recently celebrated their 43rd
anniversary
Inge Heyer, Ph.D., has spent decades developing a unique expertise in
astronomy communications across a variety of settings, including college classrooms, K-12 schools, informal educational settings,
professional scientific journalism, and science fiction venues. Born and raised in Berlin, Germany, she completed her secondary education there before accepting a scholarship to attend Tenri University (Japan), where she studied Japanese. After later earning an undergraduate degree in Astronomy and Physics from Smith College, she earned a Master’s degree in Astronomy from the University of Hawai`i at Manoa, and a Ph.D. in Science Education from the University of Wyoming.
In addition to her professional work as senior data analyst at the Space
Telescope Science Institute, Dr. Heyer also served as Deputy Press
Officer for the American Astronomical Society and as the public
information officer at the Joint Astronomy Centre, where she led the
education and public outreach efforts. She has earned Shodan in both
Judo and Karate and contributes as guest science blogger to
StarTrek.com.
Dr. Heyer currently teaches astronomy and physics at Loyola University.
Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr
is Principal Lecturer in Vertebrate Paleontology at the Department of Geology, University of Maryland, College Park. His research focuses on the origin, evolution, adaptations, and behavior of carnivorous dinosaurs, and especially of
tyrannosauroids (Tyrannosaurus Rex and its kin). He received his Bachelors in Earth & Planetary Geology at Johns Hopkins in 1987 and his Ph.D. from the Department of Geology & Geophysics at Yale in 1992. He is also a Research Associate of the Department of Paleobiology of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History and serves on the Scientific Council of Maryland Academy of Science (which operates the Maryland Science Center, Baltimore, MD).
In addition to his dinosaur research, Holtz has been active in
scientific outreach. He has been a consultant on museum exhibits
around the world, and on numerous documentaries. He is the author of
the award-winning Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-To-Date
Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages (Random House). He was
co-editor of the 2014 2nd Edition of The Complete Dinosaur (Indiana
Univ. Press) and is in the midst of coediting the 3rd Edition.
He received the 2018-2019 Provost’s Excellence in Teaching Award for
Professional Track Faculty. His web page is
Dr. Thomas R. Holtz Jr.
Stephen Lesnik
(CISSP-ISSEP-ISSMP, CCSP, CEH, CySA+) has been in the
Cybersecurity and education fields for nearly forty years. He has a
history of working with both government and commercial organizations
providing network development, systems engineering, and security
engineering to big and small customers. He has provided both
corporate and collegiate education, teaching both specific
capabilities and broad concepts in computing and Cybersecurity, and
has worked with independent professional organizations in the
development of professionally recognized certification exams. He is
currently serving as the treasurer of a new (ISC)2 Chapter in
Annapolis Junction, Maryland. Outside of his professional career,
Stephen is an avid Science Fiction fan who has assisted with running
many, many media, literary, and costume-oriented conventions over the
years, and has been a semi-pro photographer.
Dr. Valerie Mikles
is a PhD astronomer who defected from academia to work on weather satellites for NOAA. She is a
self-published author, and have recently published her eleventh science fiction space opera, the latest featuring a non binary space marine. She is active in community theater as an actor, choreographer, costumer, and stage manager. She also has a few YouTube channels with short films and music videos, many themed around asexuality and queer identity. Her motto in life is that she can be
everything she wants, just not all at the same time.
Dr. Jay Louise Nadeau
is a professor of Physics at Portland State University, where she runs an interdisciplinary lab dedicated to the
detection and characterization of microbial life in extreme environments. She is also involved with educational efforts to make graduate physics education accessible to students from other fields, who wish to either transfer into physics or learn some modern techniques for applications to biology, chemistry, geology, or math. Prior to PSU, she was a professor of Biomedical Engineering at McGill University in Montreal for 11 years. She runs a small publishing house, Bitingduck Press, whose aim is to publish unusual books by, for, and about scientists. She has published one textbook, Introduction to Experimental Biophysics (Taylor & Francis), and is working on a popular science photo book about the extreme Arctic.
She got her PhD from the University of Minnesota in theoretical
physics in 1996.
Stephanie J. Slater,
Ph.D., is a cognitive scientist specializing in how
people of all ages and backgrounds learn to navigate the intersection
of science and culture. Currently, she is the Director of the CAPER
Center for Astronomy & Physics Education Research. After
undergraduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and grad ate work at Montana State University, Dr. Slater earned her
Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in socio-cultural learning
studying how research experiences influence the professional career
pathways and attitudes of women scientists. She is a widely read
author and frequently invited speaker at science fiction conventions,
describing how society reacts to the evolution of science and
technology.
Dr. Tim Slater
is the University of Wyoming Excellence in Higher Education Endowed Chair of Science Education. Known as “the professor’s professor” because he has taught many professional scientists how to teach, Professor Slater earned his Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina, his M.S. from Clemson University, and two bachelors’ degrees from Kansas State University. An internationally recognized scholar supported with long-standing federal grants from NASA and the NSF, he is an author on more than 100 scientific journal articles, 16 books, the winner of numerous awards, serves a scholarly journal editor, and is frequently an
invited speaker on the popularization of science.
Dr. Willie Yee
is an amateur astronomer, past president and member of the Board of Directors of the Mid-Hudson Astronomical Association.
He presently is a Solar System Ambassador, a program supported by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. Dr Yee also presents a Star Trek-themed interactive magic act as the Vulcan S’kai. He was part of the crew of Star Trek New Voyages / Phase II. He has studied at the McBride Magic and Mystery School in Las Vegas. He has presented the Starship Magic show at numerous SF and astronomical gatherings, both in person and online.
