Meet Some Staff Scientists

Luigi Anzivino wants to live in a world where people can learn by doing in messy, unusual, and inventive ways, without fear of failure. With that aim in mind, he works as a content developer in the Tinkering Studio, where he helps design, prototype, and facilitate hands-on making activities.

After 24 years of formal education culminating in a PhD in behavioral neuroscience, Luigi discovered informal education, constructionism, and tinkering; he never looked back to academia. In his work at the Exploratorium, Luigi focuses on developing, documenting, and sharing rich learning experiences, with the goal of creating a physical, cultural, and social space that is safe for trying out tentative ideas, not knowing the right answer, and developing the skill of posing—even more than solving—interesting problems.

Toni Dancstep (née Dancu) is a Senior Researcher in Visitor Research and Evaluation, and the Principal Investigator on an NSF Advancing Informal STEM Learning grant. The looks of wonder and shrieks of surprise that fill the Exploratorium inspire her to better understand the visitor experience, and to help ensure that challenging moments at exhibits are motivating rather than discouraging. She uses her developmental psychology background to identify research designs and methods that address questions about better engaging underserved audiences, such as females and the Latino community; and the effects of exhibit characteristics on visitors' exhibit use, time spent, conversations, and skills practice (e.g., spatial reasoning or metacognitive skills). In order to help create intuitive and engaging experiences that reflect exhibit developers' intentions, Toni conducts formative evaluations that fold visitors' voices into the process. She often provides statistical consulting within the department and the visitor studies community. Prior to joining the Exploratorium, Toni interned at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and the Institute for Learning Innovation.

Toni Dancstep's CV

Paul Doherty graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a PhD in physics. He was a tenured professor of physics for 12 years at Oakland University, Michigan, where he taught courses ranging from physics, astronomy, and geology to electronics, computer programming, and meteorology. In 1986 he came to the Exploratorium Teacher Institute, where he developed and taught workshops. He was the author of many books, including the Explorabook, The Exploratorium Science Snackbook, the Klutz Book of Magnetic Magic, Color of Nature, and Traces of Time. Paul received the Faraday Science Communicator award from the NSTA and was chosen as the “Best Science Demonstrator” at the World Congress of Museums in Helsinki in 1996. He played music on the whirly—a corrugated plastic tube. He was also a rock climber, and climbed the face of El Capitan as well as making the first ascent of a 20,000-foot peak in the Sierra Nevada de Lagunas Bravas in the Andes. Paul passed away in August 2017. The Paul Doherty Fund, which supports the Exploratorium's Teacher Institute, has been established in his honor. 

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 PhD 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 BS in bioethics and genetics from the University of California, Davis.

Josh Gutwill is the Director of Visitor Research and Evaluation. His work includes research on learning in informal environments as well as evaluation of exhibits and programs to improve visitors' experiences. He is interested in fostering and studying learners' self-directed inquiry in science museum settings through research that is jointly negotiated with museum practitioners. His recent projects include investigating exhibit designs that foster metacognition about social interactions, studying STEM learning during Making activities, and assessing the impact of science museum visitation on young adults' self-efficacy. Also serving as the Exploratorium's Human Subjects Protection Officer, Josh ensures that research and evaluation participants are treated ethically and respectfully in Exploratorium studies and has developed effective methods for gaining informed consent in informal environments. He received his PhD in science education from U.C. Berkeley in 1996.

Joshua Gutwill's CV

Isabel Hawkins is an astronomer and educator with a PhD 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.

Ron has worn many hats since he joined the Exploratorium in 1971, including exhibit developer and author of two of our three Cookbooks (manuals for building Exploratorium exhibits). 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. He’s currently responsible for the Exploratorium’s web, streaming media, and digital asset management servers. He also hosts two ongoing lecture series: Full-Spectrum Science and Everything Matters. Ron has a BA in physics and an MA in physical science from San Francisco State University.

Joyce Ma is a Senior Researcher in Visitor Research and Evaluation. Her work involves characterizing the visitor experience in order to inform exhibit and program development and better understand the nature of informal learning at our museum. She is currently a co-PI on multiple projects looking at ways to use and adapt scientific tools and advance technologies for museum visitors and the visitor studies field. Before joining the Exploratorium, Joyce was in the Learning Sciences Program at Northwestern University. She worked in the Qualitative Reasoning Group, headed by Professor Ken Forbus, where she conducted research on mental models, analogical reasoning, and computer-based learning environments, specifically those that scaffold students in building and testing system models. Joyce is interested in understanding how people make sense of scientific and technical domains and in developing innovative learning environments as informed by cognitive research.

Joyce Ma's CV

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 PhD 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.

Bay Area native Hilleary Osheroff is the Teacher Institute’s Staff Biologist and resident expert in carbon-based life forms. She holds a PhD in neurobiology and developmental biology from the Rockefeller University. Before joining the Exploratorium, she taught high school students at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where she learned a lot about evolution and phylogenetics; worked with paleontologists, conservation biologists, and anthropologists to provide research experiences for students; and was generally swept off her feet by teaching science in museums.

Her favorite things in San Francisco include the Bernal Hill hawks, Ocean Beach, sea lions, dumplings on Balboa, burritos on Mission, and her two small children.

Anne collaborates with Global Studios’ partners to develop cultures of learning that align with their organizational and community goals and values. Her areas of focus include educational programming, professional development, and institutional learning. During her tenure at the Exploratorium, Anne directed the Field Trip Explainer Program and Member Education Programs. She also launched and directed Helix, a one-year, experimental community-science center. In her early career, she developed and implemented science-and-art learning experiences at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Department of Environment, Mass Audubon, and the Alliance for the Great Lakes. Anne holds a PhD and an MS in environmental studies from Antioch University New England, and a BA in art history from Northwestern University.

Robert Semper coordinates the museum’s overall content-related R&D development and manages the institution’s relations with the external science, education, and funding communities. His areas of responsibility include the museum’s science and art development, public understanding of research activities, and creative application development. He provides oversight for the Museum Experience, and has also guided the development of the award-winning Exploratorium website. 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 programs for teachers and museum educators. 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 PhD in solid state physics from the Johns Hopkins University.