Speakers

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  G. Reid Wiseman

  NASA

  Captain, U.S. Navy, NASA Astronaut

  See Bio
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  Raven Baxter, Ph.D.

  Dr Raven the Science Maven

  Molecular Biologist, Educator, Entrepreneur

  See Bio
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  Christopher Baker

  NASA

  Program Executive, Flight Opportunities and Small Spacecraft Technology Programs

  See Bio
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  Lucas Moxey

  NASA Flight Opportunities

  Project Lead & Campaign Manager

  See Bio
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  Danielle McCulloch

  NASA Flight Opportunities

  Acting Program Manager

  See Bio
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  Shobhana Gupta, MD, Ph.D.

  NASA

  Open Innovation and Community Applications Manager, NASA Earth

  See Bio
• 

  Ryon Stewart

  NASA Johnson Space Center

  Deputy Program Manager, NASA Tournament Lab

  See Bio

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G. Reid Wiseman

NASA

Reid Wiseman served as Flight Engineer aboard the International Space Station for Expedition 41 from May through November of 2014. During the 165-day mission, Reid and his crewmates completed over 300 scientific experiments in areas such as human physiology, medicine, physical science, Earth science and astrophysics. They set a milestone for station science by completing a record 82 hours of research in a single week. This was Reid’s first spaceflight, which also included almost 13 hours as lead spacewalker during two trips outside the orbital complex. Reid also fostered a strong social media presence throughout his mission by sharing the raw emotions of spaceflight as seen through the eyes of a rookie flier. The Baltimore native earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and a Master of Science in Systems Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Currently, Wiseman is the Chief of the Astronaut Office.

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Raven Baxter, Ph.D.

Dr Raven the Science Maven

Raven Baxter, Ph.D., aka Dr. Raven the Science Maven, is an American educator and molecular biologist known for merging science with pop culture. She challenges the status quo to prove that science communicators aren’t all one and the same. Raised by a single mother in North Carolina and New York, Dr. Baxter’s curiosity to explore the world around her at a young age developed into a lifelong affinity for science. Today, whether producing hip-hop videos to teach science lessons or hosting a STEM-themed talk show she created called STEMbassy, she joyfully disrupts traditional cultural perceptions about scientists. Passionate about diversity in STEM, Dr. Baxter builds community with her participation in the Black in Science Communication group and recognizes the importance of service as a legacy member of the prestigious Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. As an entrepreneur, Dr. Baxter founded her own online store, Smarty Pants, which features whimsical STEM-themed apparel and donates a portion of profits to STEM students. In addition, Dr. Baxter maintains a strong voice in science academia as the Director of Diversity Initiatives in the UC Irvine School of Biological Sciences. She has earned numerous awards for her achievements, including the State University of New York’s Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence in honor of her service in educating the public about COVID-19, and recognition on Fortune Magazine’s 40 Under 40 list. 

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Christopher Baker

NASA

Christopher Baker currently serves as the program executive for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Flight Opportunities and Small Spacecraft Technology programs. He previously held various positions in atmospheric and suborbital flight testing at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center and managed an agency-wide early-stage research and development program from NASA Headquarters. Christopher is a graduate of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he received a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering.

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Lucas Moxey

NASA Flight Opportunities

Lucas Moxey is part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program where he is serving in a variety of roles, including project management, acquisitions management, and helping mature space technologies by means of suborbital flight testing. His background in engineering, science (geology & remote sensing), and education have helped him contribute to the new NASA TechRise STEM initiative. In the past, he has also been part of several projects that included Ascent Abort 2 (AA-2) Orion, X-57 Maxwell Experimental Aircraft, and F-15 Supersonic Research Testbed.

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Danielle McCulloch

NASA Flight Opportunities

Danielle McCulloch serves as the program manager for NASA’s Flight Opportunities program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. Flight Opportunities rapidly demonstrates promising technologies for space exploration, discovery, and the expansion of space commerce through suborbital testing with industry flight providers. In this role, she provides strategic integration between researchers, mission stakeholders, and flight providers, as well as other NASA programs, to maximize impact for technology advancement and ensure that the flight test community is actively engaged in available opportunities. During her time with NASA, Ms. McCulloch has also held positions as Deputy Program Manager for Flight Opportunities and Chief of Staff for the Small Spacecraft Technology and Flight Opportunities program portfolio. She previously held various leadership roles in the medical device and paper manufacturing industries as well as served as vice president for a small technology transfer consultancy. Ms. McCulloch has a wide breadth of technology-related experience, including technology evaluation, technology transfer, entrepreneurship, developing a research culture, innovation management, and fostering researcher and inventor diversity. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Washington University and an MBA from Dartmouth College.

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Shobhana Gupta, MD, Ph.D.

NASA

Shobhana Gupta is a physician scientist and currently serves as the Open Innovation and Community Applications manager with Earth Science Division’s Applied Sciences Program at NASA Headquarters. Shobhana manages crowdsourcing activities including prize competitions to invite talents and experiences outside of the NASA community for the discovery and development of applications of Earth observations for decision-making. She also supports the advancement and scaling of new ideas, products and services developed with the Applied Sciences Program, as well as community-based projects to address societal challenges through collaborations between community experts, policy- and decision-makers and subject matter experts in Earth science. Prior to her current role, Shobhana served as the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science and Technology Policy fellow in the Health and Air Quality Applied Sciences Program from 2015 to 2017, assisting program leadership with management of funded projects and activities for the Group on Earth Observations’ Health Community of Practice. During her fellowship, Shobhana also served as the Earth Category lead in the 2016 hackathon event for NASA’s International Space Apps Challenge Program — the world’s largest hackathon. She then served as the program manager for the entire Space Apps Challenge Program for the 2017 hackathon event. Shobhana’s work with Space Apps was recognized in 2016 with the NASA Team Excellence Award, and in 2017 with the NASA Team Excellence Award and the NASA Blue Marble Award. Currently, Shobhana continues to serve as a member of the Space Apps Challenge Leadership Team to engage the brightest and most creative minds around the world to help solve problems in space and on Earth. 

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Ryon Stewart

NASA Johnson Space Center

Ryon has an Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering degree from the University of Washington and has worked at NASA's Johnson Space Center since 2008. The first two years were as a Co-op for mission operations facilities, engineering GN&C, and engineering robotics. For eight years, he worked full time in ISS Flight Operations as an Attitude Determination and Control Officer (ADCO) flight controller and instructor. In this role, he supported over 2200 hours of real time execution supporting activities from visiting vehicle dockings, undockings, reboosts, etc. He also worked as an instructor teaching flight controllers, instructors, and astronauts about the ISS motion control system and soft skills required for the job. Currently, Ryon serves as a challenge coordinator for CoECI, working to increase the use of open innovation tools at NASA and enhance the utilization of crowdsourcing by NASA and much of the federal government. 

Booth Speakers

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  Blue Origin

• 

  Raven Aerostar

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  UP Aerospace

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  Savanna Jonker

  Future Engineers

  Challenge Support Specialist

  See Bio
• 

  Tanya Silva

  Future Engineers

  Director of K12 Engagement

  See Bio
• 

  Mark DeLoura

  Level Up Games, Founder

  TechRise Flight Simulator Consultant

  See Bio

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Savanna Jonker

Future Engineers

Savanna Jonker is a Challenge Support Specialist at Future Engineers. She has a B.S. in Biology with an emphasis on Secondary Education and has 5+ years experience in teaching science to K-8th graders, as well as college-aged students. Prior to working for Future Engineers, she served as the Program Coordinator at STAR Education where she developed a STEM-based curriculum for K-12th grade schools across Los Angeles County.

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Tanya Silva

Future Engineers

Tanya Silva is an expert in Future Engineers K12 challenge administration. Prior to Future Engineers, Tanya had 14 years of experience as a Curriculum Developer and Science Director for STAR Education. Tanya has written over 500 National Standard based lessons that continue to serve over 20,000 students annually. She has a B.S. in Biology with a specialization in Ecology and Evolution from UCLA. In her free time, she volunteers as a STEM Consultant and Master Gardener. 

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Mark DeLoura

Level Up Games, Founder

Mark DeLoura leads Level Up Games, a learning game consultancy in Seattle, and is CTO/Co-founder of Games and Learning Inc. Mark has worked in the game industry for companies like Sony, Nintendo, and Ubisoft for over 25 years. He had the honor of serving as Senior Advisor for Digital Media in the Obama White House, Office of Science and Technology Policy, working on games for impact and K-12 computer science education.

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Marisa Cleghorn

Future Engineers

With over two decades of experience in non-profit education, Marisa has spent a lifetime developing and implementing interactive educational programming in the learning sciences and STEAM disciplines for students, teachers, and parents, both nationally and internationally. She holds a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Education in Arts and Sciences from UMASS and an M.S.Ed. concentrating in Mind Brain and Teaching and Leadership in Technology Integration from Johns Hopkins University (J.H.U.). Marisa is currently completing her doctorate at J.H.U., exploring cognitive and psychological factors associated with creative practice and the role of technology integration, informative feedback, and communities of practice. Collectively, she is incredibly passionate about the learning sciences, arts, technology integration, and the power of STEAM education to inspire and cultivate the cognitive capacity of students of all ages. 

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Christina Constabile

Future Engineers

Christina Constabile is the Community Manager at Future Engineers. She has two bachelor’s degrees, one in Digital Media Arts and the other in Communications. She also pursued an MBA through Brandeis and a coding certificate through UCLA. Christina has experience in many fields including teaching K-12 and working in higher education. She has spent 8+ years working in communications and creative services and loves to work, innovate, and create with the people around her.