Paul Doherty is a physicist, teacher, author, and rock climber with a Ph.D. in solid-state physics from MIT. Since 1986, when he joined the Exploratorium staff, he’s been teaching secondary physics and physical science teachers who attend the museum’s Teacher Institute, and he consults on many projects and programs throughout the museum. He’s published dozens of articles and coauthored several books including (with Don Rathjen) the Exploratorium Science Snackbook, which provides instructions for building classroom-sized versions of more than 100 Exploratorium exhibits and explains the underlying science. Prior to his life at the Exploratorium, Paul taught a wide range of science courses at Oakland University in Michigan, including physics, astronomy, and geology. And his personal best climb? The East Buttress of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.

Karen Kalumuck studied the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, to earn her Ph.D. in genetics and molecular biology from Rice University. She subsequently researched the molecular basis of human disease, and, as a college professor, taught a variety of biology courses including cell biology and genetics. Karen joined the Exploratorium in 1994 and established the teacher professional development program in biology. She is the author of Human Body Explorations, which presents ways to explore, experience, and understand the workings of one’s own body. She’s currently developing new exhibits and public programs in the life sciences that help visitors experience the natural world in novel and personal ways. Karen serves on the Education Committee of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) and on the editorial board of ASCB’s education journal CBE—Life Sciences Education.

Thomas Humphrey is a physicist, teacher, exhibit developer, artist, and guitar player with a Ph.D. in elementary particle physics from Caltech. His research was done at Fermilab. Thomas joined the Exploratorium staff in 1973 and worked closely for many years with Frank Oppenheimer, the museum’s founder and director. An Exploratorium Senior Scientist, Thomas has been principal investigator on dozens of projects involving exhibit development and teaching in the areas of seeing, listening, physics, feedback, mathematics, and navigation. He’s also been involved with exhibits developed through our artist-in-residence program, and he’s tested innovative exhibit techniques.

Julie Yu is a scientist in the museum’s Teacher Institute where she works with teachers to create hands-on activities for teaching math and science. With a broad interest in all sciences, she has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, with a minor in molecular and cell biology. Since joining the Exploratorium, she has developed ways to do numerous science activities (from making batteries to gel electrophoresis) at a fraction of their typical cost. When not in the classroom, Julie is usually doing science in her kitchen, pursuing a tender roast or the perfect soufflé.

Hugh McDonald is a Project Director, Senior Science Writer, and Associate Curator for the museum’s West Gallery, which focuses on the interplay among science, society, and culture. He is the Principal Investigator of Science of Sharing, an NSF-funded initiative to develop exhibits that let visitors experiment with resource-sharing and collaborative problem-solving, link their experiences to larger societal issues such as climate change and environmental destruction, and learn about the scientific study of human behavior. Hugh was the lead writer/editor for the museum’s Mind and Seeing exhibit collections and the Pirelli Award–winning Global Climate Change: Research Explorer microsite, and contributing writer/editor for numerous other exhibitions, sites, and publications. He received his doctorate in social psychology from Indiana University in 1997.

Linda Shore is the Director of the Exploratorium’s Teacher Institute, a staff physicist, the Mistress of Ceremonies for the Iron Science Teacher webcast series, and co-author of The Science Explorer, The Science Explorer Out and About, and The Brain Explorer, Exploratorium activity books for children and their parents. Before joining the Exploratorium in 1993, Linda taught pre-med physics at San Francisco State University, conducted educational research at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and taught science education courses at Boston University. She has a master’s degree in physics and astronomy from San Francisco State University and a doctorate in science education from Boston University. When she’s not at the museum, Linda teaches graduate courses in educational technology at the University of San Francisco and writes science fiction short stories.

Richard O. Brown, Ph.D., is the Exploratorium’s senior neuroscientist. He has degrees in neurobiology from Caltech and the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, and he was on UC San Diego’s research faculty in the Center for Brain and Cognition before joining the Exploratorium in 1998. Richard’s specialty is perception and psychophysics, and in particular the science and art of human color perception. He is also an internationally recognized expert on visual illusions and demonstrations and has taught visual perception at both UCSD and the San Francisco Art Institute. At the Exploratorium, he has been the primary developer or co-developer of almost 100 new exhibits on topics including seeing, listening, attention, biology, AIDS and immunology, the human body, the outdoors, and the mind. He is presently devoted to applying knowledge from neuroscience and psychology to the problems of human behavior in the climate change crisis.

Isabel Hawkins is an astronomer and educator with a Ph.D. in astronomy from UCLA, and she spent 20 years as a researcher and science educator at the University of California, Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory. While at Berkeley, she consulted on several astronomy projects at the Exploratorium and was the bilingual (Spanish/English) host of the museum’s live webcast from Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, on Maya astronomy in 2005. She joined the Exploratorium staff in 2009, and became the project director for the Never Lost: Polynesian Navigation website. Isabel has published more than 100 articles on a variety of astronomy and education topics, and in 2009 she received the Astronomical Society of the Pacific’s Klumpke-Roberts award for her work in astronomy education and public outreach. Her interests include salsa dancing, yoga, drawing Maya classic period glyphs, and the study of native languages.

Charles Carlson, a Senior Scientist at the Exploratorium, has been in the field of informal science learning since 1971. He’s built over 150 exhibits and led the development of many large exhibitions, and he founded and directed the life sciences department at the Exploratorium. His formal training was in biology and human behavior at the University of California, Berkeley, where he became fascinated with marine biology and life’s diversity, and he also developed a deep interest in the cellular aspects of science. Charles worked closely with the Exploratorium’s founding director Frank Oppenheimer as the field of informal science education and interactive exhibits blossomed, and he’s created technically advanced exhibits including microelectrode recordings from individual neurons and sophisticated presentations with microscopes, as well as some of the first-ever displays using sterile technique and cell culturing.

Kristina Yu is the Director of the Exploratorium’s Living Systems Department. In this position, she oversees the biology laboratory and the staff who support the Exploratorium’s unique collection of life sciences exhibits, and she has curatorial oversight over the collection. The laboratory includes the Microscope Imaging Station (MIS), a facility that allows museum visitors to control research-grade microscopes to explore living biological samples and provides high quality imagery for educators. Kristina also collaborates with researchers in the San Francisco Bay Area, and she is building an archive of microscopic movies and images that are available on the Web. She earned a Ph.D. in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Kristina spent her childhood on her parents’ organic pear farm in rural northern California.

Ron Hipschman has worn many hats since he joined the Exploratorium in 1971: exhibit developer, author of two of our three Cookbooks (manuals for building Exploratorium exhibits), and frequent writer for the Exploratorium magazine. In 1993, Ron established the museum’s presence on the World Wide Web, making it among the first 600 websites in the world. In 1996, he spearheaded the museum’s experiments with webcasting; he’s contributed technical expertise and has hosted many shows, both locally and from locations as far away as the South Pole. He’s currently responsible for the Exploratorium’s web, streaming media, and digital asset management servers. Ron also taught undergraduate physics and astronomy for 16 years, and he was a laser artist for Laserium concerts at the Morrison Planetarium for 20 years. He has a B.A. in physics and an M.A. in physical science from San Francisco State University. 

Jennifer Frazier is a cell biologist whose current obsessions include plankton and data visualization. Jennifer has been at the Exploratorium since 2004, focusing on finding new ways to help visitors explore worlds they normally can’t see. Her projects include the Microscope Imaging Station and the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network’s Visualization Laboratory. Before joining the Exploratorium, she created exhibits, multimedia, and documentary films at NOVA, the National Academy of Sciences, and several multimedia companies. Jennifer received her Ph.D. in cell biology from the University of California, San Francisco, where as an NSF and AAAS Fellow she used advanced imaging techniques to study polymer assembly during cell division. She has a B.S. in bioethics and genetics from the University of California, Davis.

Sebastian Martin grew up in a small town in Germany with a rich tradition in toy making, and he attributes his interest in learning through experimentation and play to this early experience. Before coming to the United States, he studied earthquakes in the Chilean Andes, satellite imaging in the boreal forests of Ontario, and physics and math in Erlangen, Germany. He earned a Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of Potsdam. Throughout his studies, he retained a playful approach to science and research, and he developed interactive exhibits at Phenomenta, a science center dedicated to inquiry and direct contact with phenomena. In 2005 he joined the Exploratorium, where he found a happy symbiosis among science teaching, playing, and making things. An exhibit developer at the museum, Sebastian also enjoys teaching physics and interactive design at the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University.

Robert Semper, the Exploratorium’s Executive Associate Director and Director of Program, coordinates the museum’s overall program direction as well as relations with the external science, education, and funding communities. His areas of responsibility include the museum’s exhibit, program, media, and teacher education programs, public understanding of research activities, and research in K–12 education and new media. Rob is the author of many journal articles and invited papers, and he has been the principal investigator on projects that include developing new Internet resources, experiments using technology to enhance the museum visitor experience, and teacher and museum educators programs. Awards include AAAS Fellow, 2006, and the NSTA 2006 Faraday Science Communicator Award. Before joining the Exploratorium in 1977, Rob taught physics and conducted solid state and nuclear physics research. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the Johns Hopkins University.