Core Organizing Group

Amanda Barrera is an administrative assistant with years of experience in STEM education support. She is an active learner working towards a degree in early childhood education, focusing on special education related services. Amanda currently works at AUI, where she has grown her knowledge and skills in the Education and Public Engagement Office. In her free time, Amanda enjoys various mediums of art and lightly dabbles in coding.

Nic Bonne, Ph.D., is a blind astronomer and science communicator who leads the multi-award-winning Tactile Universe public engagement project, which is creating accessible resources to help blind and vision impaired people engage with astronomy. By creating free accessible educational resources, distributing those resources and training others to deliver them to their own communities, the Tactile Universe has reached audiences across the U.K. and internationally. Nic has also consulted and advised on a number of international projects focusing on accessibility, including IDATA, AstroBVI and the BVI accessible planetarium show “Audio Universe: Tour of the Solar System”.

Kelly Blumenthal holds both a Ph.D. in astrophysics from the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and an Master of Education in education policy and management from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. In the past, Kelly has worked on projects focused on developing inclusive and equitable programs to engage a large sample of the population. Now, as the director of the International Astronomical Union Office for Astronomy Outreach (IAU OAO) at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Kelly has the opportunity to continue this work on the international stage.

Yasmin Catricheo is a Native American (Mapuche-Chile) woman certified in physics education, and employed by Associated Universities Inc. (AUI) in Washington, D.C. as the senior STEM education specialist. At AUI, Yasmin assists with and/or co-leads numerous STEM education projects as well as develops new initiatives. Examples of current projects include Innovators Developing Accessible for Astronomy (IDATA); Cosmovisions of the Pacific Rim; Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discoveries; and the North American Office of Astronomy for Development (NA-ROAD). Prior to her time at AUI, she earned a master’s degree in education with a concentration in science from Universidad del Bío Bío in Chile, and spent seven years teaching physics and other natural sciences in middle school, high school and college. Her research focused on science pedagogy and improving science communication and argumentation skills in high school physics students. As a member of the MAPU TRAFUN association and being of Mapuche origins, Yasmin has been working for the past 10 years to preserve and share the Mapuche Indigenous roots, knowledge and ways of knowing the universe through social and educational activities. She serves as the current president and CEO of the Janequeo Foundation, the governing council chairperson for the International Astronomical Union – North American Regional Office of Astronomy for Development, and board secretary for the Astronomers Without Borders Board of Directors.

Bret Feranchak is the principal consultant responsible for Research, Evaluation, and Strategy Logos Consulting Group, LLC (“Logos”).  Logos works with clients, primarily in the academic, philanthropic and not-for-profit sectors, in enhancing their evaluation utilization in order to improve programs, policies and organizations. Bret regularly leads the evaluation of projects funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Defense, and many other local and national funding agencies. Previously, he was director of program evaluation and applied research for the Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third largest school district, where he directed the district’s internal evaluation efforts, including the conceptualization and implementation of a district plan for comprehensive program evaluation, and coordinated the work of external evaluators and researchers. This work included all aspects of program evaluation, including fiscal oversight of the district’s multimillion dollar program evaluation portfolio.  Bret’s evaluation work over the last 20 years incorporates a variety of methodological approaches and spans across numerous program areas, including the evaluation of mathematics, science, literacy, bilingual, early childhood, high school, special education and after school programs, as well as working with numerous clients on strategic planning processes related to their evaluation, performance management and measurement functions.  

Bret graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and physics from the Honors Program at the University of Notre Dame. He did doctoral work at the University of Chicago, where he received several fellowships including the Karl Max Probst Fellowship from the University of Chicago and a GAANN Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education. His research has focused on measuring the effects of educational reform initiatives, particularly those that involve STEM components. He also works on issues of educational program improvement and organizational strategic planning processes through evaluation utilization. Additionally, he is an active member of several professional societies, including the American Educational Research Association and the American Evaluation Association.

Anica Miller-Rushing completed a research-based Ph.D. in STEM education at the University of Maine in the College of Education and Human Development. Anica’s research agenda focuses on teacher agency and identity to support the potential of teachers of science to serve as autonomously-driven systems-level change agents. Before pursuing her Ph.D., Anica taught K-12. Currently, she works as a STEM education research associate for Associated Universities Inc. In her personal time, she enjoys sailing along the coast of Maine with her family. 

Saeed Salimpour is an Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Deakin University (REDI), and associate scientist in astronomy education at the International Astronomical Union Office of Astronomy for Education/Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy.

As an interdisciplinary researcher with a background in cosmology, visual art/design and education, his research is varied and includes science and astronomy education (with a focus on cosmology), creativity, representations, aesthetics, big data visualisation, learning progressions, concept inventories, VR/AR, curriculum development, Indigenous/cultural astronomy, and student research in astronomy.

He has worked with and led international collaborations in astronomy education research; implemented research-based astronomy projects involving colour imaging and exoplanet science for middle and secondary school students; developed and deployed astronomical data analysis tools for use in the context of education and student research; conducted teacher training workshops; taught astronomy, physics and design in school; lectured at university; exhibited in art exhibitions; and given public talks on various topics about the Universe. His goal is to bring the science and beauty of the cosmos to everyone, whilst working at the interface of science, art and education.

He believes in “being curious for the sake of finding things out!”

Tim Spuck is the director of education and public engagement at AUI, where he is responsible for the development and management of innovative STEM Education programs. He leads multiple NSF-supported projects, and efforts at AUI to build domestic and international partnerships in support of education and engagement, and workforce development. Prior to his role with AUI, he taught astronomy and earth sciences at the high school and university levels and served as a K–12 science coordinator. He holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from West Virginia University, and a master’s degree in science education from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. Tim has been recognized nationally and internationally for his work and served as lead editor and author for “Einstein Fellows: Best Practices in STEM Education”, which received a Peter Lang Publishing Book of the Year award.

Gretchen Stahlman is an assistant professor in the School of Information at Florida State University. She previously served as assistant professor of library and information science at Rutgers University. Gretchen earned her doctoral degree from the University of Arizona School of Information in 2020. Her current research interests broadly include scholarly and science communication, scientific information lifecycles, and the sociotechnical systems supporting research infrastructures, resources and data management. The overall purpose of Gretchen’s present and future work is to inform open science and scholarly communication initiatives, as well as development of methods, services and infrastructures for long-term information management and responsible data science. With more than 10 years of prior professional experience related to librarianship and information management, she has also worked in an academic library, and as a documentation specialist for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope construction project.

Tiffany Stone Wolbrecht is a STEM educator and researcher with more than 10 years serving to advance education and public engagement in Earth, space and physical sciences. She has a Bachelor of Science in physics from Penn State University and Master of Education in physics education from Edinboro University. In her current role as STEM education officer at AUI, she develops and implements education and public engagement initiatives with diverse international teams to enhance STEM awareness and research on a global scale. Previously, Tiffany worked in planetariums developing and delivering STEM content to all ages in a variety of contexts. Tiffany enjoys working in the dynamic intersection of teaching, research and public outreach. Her journey has been fueled by a love of learning, a determination to make science accessible to all, and a passion for instilling curiosity about the wonders of the universe in students and the broader public.