In the past few years, we’ve had the delight and privilege of welcoming very talented contributors and thinkers to our workshops. Our past speakers include:
My goal is to expose young students to various living systems and bring them to the understanding how they operate in nature via microscopy and learning some biochemical processes that taking place during their life cycle. What happens with their “food” and how do they produce the energy they need in order to live.
Sidney is a technically minded individual with a passion for sharing his excitement of the natural and human-made world.
He has mentored and instructed children at a number of programs and venues such as Mad Science, Girls Who Code, and the Marion Natural History Museum's Starlab and Lego Robotics Club. When not teaching kids he pilots marine robots and maintains the cyber infrastructure for a marine observatory at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. In his free time he enjoys long woodsy dog walks, boardgames, and Adventure. He aspires one day to drive a magic school bus across the country, imparting wonder and a curiosity to children and adults alike.
Joshua Schroeder graduated from Princeton University magna cum laude with a degree in Astrophysical Sciences in 2003. He received a M.S. in Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2005 and worked as an Instructor of Physical Science at Harold Washington College from 2005 to 2007.
Since then, he has been a PhD candidate in Astronomy at Columbia University with the effected defense date of May 2014. He currently works as a Predoctoral Fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge. He lives in Boston.
Clark Nelly has a lifelong interest and deep affection for mathematics and physics. It led him to a 30-year career as an aerospace engineer. While a NASA employee on the Apollo Project, he participated in the development of Earth and Lunar orbit rendezvous techniques, and served as rendezvous training instructor for Apollo missions 9, 11, and 13. Later, he participated in the design of the space shuttle flight control system, and the development of the first GPS operating software.
In 1994, he spent a year at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, to obtain an MEd and teaching certification in high school math and physics.
Justin Brown specializes in building "atomic sensors for precision measurements" by using atoms in a gas and lasers to interact with the atoms. He has performed experiments to search for a preferred direction in space-time as well as more applied work on inertial sensors to provide navigation in the absence of a reliable GPS signal.
Justin earned his bachelor's degree in Physics at Williams College and completed his Masters and PhD at Princeton University. His dissertation includes some of the most precise measurements of zero and proposed relocating the next generation of experiments to the South Pole.
Science is one of Peruta's first loves. Her father being a mathematics professor, saw the value of education and sharing knowledge with others and this was instilled in Peruta from an early age.
She has been engaging in biology research since she was in high school. Peruta graduated with honors from Williams College with a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry as well as a concentration in biochemistry. Her thesis was on developmental biology, focusing on the key differentiation genes of Helobdella robusta. After her studies she worked in the medical school at Yale University as a science researcher in the infectious disease department, focusing her research on a particular mode of posttranscriptional gene regulation, RNA interference.
Currently, she is pursuing a degree in biology from Harvard University. During her academic career, she has taken on many teaching roles with over six years of tutoring/teaching experience, both as a teaching assistant at Williams College and as a private tutor in biology and chemistry for middle school, high school, and college students.
Louis Bodin discovered a passion for both rocks and Earth Science as a grade-school student, clambering after his parents across the rocky slopes of California's Sierra Nevada mountains. Enamored with the study of physics, climate, chemistry, and more, he gravitated to Geology at Oberlin College of Arts and Sciences. Louis graduated in 2011, receiving the Andrew Wharton prize in Geology.
Louis' research took him to Australia, where he studied meteorite impact ejecta preserved in ancient strata of the western outback. Since graduating, Louis has explored the geology of Central America and Asia. He watched lava bubble from volcanoes in Nicaragua and trekked, biked, and climbed through the high Himalaya of Ladakh.
A lifelong musician, Louis also completed a degree in Jazz Trumpet from Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He has been studying, teaching, and performing improvised music since the age of 15.
Louis is motivated by his joy for understanding and communicating the processes that shape the world around us. He aspires to encourage discussion and share his passion for both science and music at Cogitania.
Joseph Graly, is a geologist who specializes in the impact of glaciers and ice sheets on climate and landscapes. By studying how glaciers are transforming landscapes in the present, Joseph seeks to understand how glaciers have shaped Earth’s history, including the rise and fall of the large continental ice masses that once buried Boston under a kilometer of ice. Joseph has worked 4 seasons in Greenland and also in Mongolia and Italy.
He has studied at Carleton College, University of Vermont, and University of Wyoming. Joseph thinks of landscapes like a detective novels. His goal in teaching is to inspire students to stop and consider explanations for the natural world around them. Why is there a hill here or a cliff there? What forces are shaping our environment in the present? What record do we have of the past?
Involved in wildlife conservation and forest conservation for more than twenty years. He is an expert at bird identification who started birding seriously at age ten. His life list currently contains 999 species of birds seen or heard in the wild.
Intimate knowledge of tropical ecology which was gained in Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica (Central America) and Guyana (South America).
Philip runs forestprimeval.org, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving virgin forest in the mountains of Guatemala since 2008. As Director, he is engaged in sustainable development with indigenous communities in rural Guatemala and runs programs in biodiversity research, ecotourism, and forest conservation.
Helga's passions are teaching science and natural history, especially biology and geology; looking for connections between human and natural worlds. Her education started with a B.S. in biology from Cornell University where she focused on ecology and marine science. She has added an MEd. in Elementary Education from Lesley University, and an upper elementary Montessori certification.
Helga has taught K-7 science for over 10 years, most recently at Friends Academy in Dartmouth, MA. Previously, as teacher/naturalist for the Massachusetts Audubon Society, she focused on Boston public schools, including teaching Schoolyard Science, Naturalist-in Residence and teacher mentoring. She has even taught live animal programs at Trailside Museum, led geology walks in down-town Boston and the Blue Hills Reservation. Each summer, she teaches “Pond-tastic” for a summer camp at Stonehill College.
Katie is a multi-media illustrator and fine artist who moved to Massachusetts in '10 to study illustration at Lesley University College of Art and Design.
Katie’s artwork is inspired by her interests in immersive experiences, plants and animals, obsessive mark-making, different forms of storytelling, social justice issues, the inner workings of the human mind, and self-exploration. The techniques and materials vary from the traditional (ink, gouache, graphite) to the experimental (found objects, edible substances).
Nathan is currently focused on his passions; teaching science, especially Botany and Horticulture, gardening, wilderness adventure, and connecting people to nature. Nathan has a B. S. degree in Environmental Studies from Springfield College with a concentration in Plant Biology, Ecology, Horticulture and Botany. At Buckingham, Browne, and Nichols school, Nathan taught fifth and first grade science as a long-term substitute. He was responsible for lesson preparation, teaching, classroom management, and student project guidance At the Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Nathan is a volunteer who teaches elementary school students Botany and Horticulture. He teaches students about growing plants, plant life cycles, pollination, buds, flowers, and fruits.
At Wicked Cool for Kids, Nathan taught after-school STEAM classes for grades K-5 at Massachusetts community centers and elementary schools. Topics included General Science, Lego Engineering, Electricity and Engineering, Global Art, and Lego Robotics. Nathan developed a Natural Science curriculum entitled “Nature Explorer” for the 2015 summer camp. Nathan is an outdoor education leader and former naturalist and crew member at the Appalachian Mountain Club’s white mountain hut system. He is a former member of the Stoneham Conservation Commission. As an Engineer and environmental planner at Weston and Sampson Engineers, Nathan worked with municipalities, companies, and government agencies on environmental impact and water and wastewater engineering projects.
Spencer Martin is a Mathematician from Minneapolis Minnesota, studying dynamic systems at Boston University. He is an active researcher in the field of chaos theory in genetic systems. More specifically he studies how chaos theory produces massive complexity that ultimately gives rise to all the life we see around us, and also explains abnormalities such as cancer through genetic structures and mechanisms. His specialty is statistical analysis, data processing, and model construction and testing.
He has taught students of ages 6 to 80 and many cultural backgrounds in English, Biology, Mathematics, and Physics. His history of teaching and tutoring includes special education programs in mathematics, AP and collegiate courses in the math’s and sciences, and ESL programs for refugees from Somalia.
