• Visit
    • Calendar
    • After Dark Thursdays
    • Buy Tickets
    • Exhibits
    • Museum Galleries
    • Artworks on View
    • Hours
    • Getting Here
    • Visitor FAQ
    • Event Rentals
    • Field Trips
  • Education
    • Professional Development Programs
    • Free Educator Workshops
    • Tools for Teaching and Learning
    • Learning About Learning
    • Community Programs
    • Educator Newsletter
  • Explore
    • Browse by Subject
    • Activities
    • Video
    • Exhibits
    • Apps
    • Blogs
    • Websites
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Partnerships
    • Global Collaborations
    • Explore Our Reach
    • Arts at the Exploratorium
    • Contact Us
  • Join + Support
    • Donate Today!
    • Membership
    • Join Our Donor Community
    • Engage Your Business
    • Attend a Fundraiser
    • Explore Our Reach
    • Thank You to Our Supporters
    • Donor & Corporate Member FAQ
    • Host Your Event
    • Volunteer
  • Store
  • Visit
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Calendar
      • Today
      • This Week
      • Online
      • After Dark Thursday Nights
      • Arts
      • Conferences
      • Cinema Arts
      • Free + Community Events
      • Fundraising Events
      • Kids + Families
      • Members
      • Special Hours
      • Private Event Closures
    • Prices
    • Hours
    • Getting Here
    • Museum Map
    • Free Admission and Reduced Admission
    • Accessibility
    • Tips for Visiting with Kids
    • How to Exploratorium
    • Exhibits
    • Tactile Dome
    • Artworks on View
    • Cinema Arts
    • Kanbar Forum
    • Black Box
    • Museum Galleries
      • Bernard and Barbro Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomena
        • Tactile Dome
          • 1971 Press Release
        • Black Box
        • Curator Statement
      • Gallery 2: Tinkering
        • Curator Statement
      • Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections
        • Curator Statement
      • Gordon and Betty Moore Gallery 4: Living Systems
        • Curator Statement
      • Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits
        • Curator Statement
      • Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6: Observing Landscapes
        • Wired Pier Environmental Field Station
        • Curator Statement
    • Restaurant & Café
    • School Field Trips
      • Getting Here
        • Bus Routes for Field Trips and Other Groups
      • Admission and Tickets
      • Planning Guide
      • Reservations
        • Field Trip Request Form
      • Resources
    • Event Rentals
      • Full Facility & Gallery Bundles
      • Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery & Terrace
      • Moore East Gallery
      • Bechtel Central Gallery & Outdoor Gallery
      • Osher West Gallery
      • Kanbar Forum

      • Weddings
      • Proms and School Events
      • Daytime Meetings, Events, & Filmings
      • Happy Hour on the Water

      • Rentals FAQ
      • Event Planning Resources
      • Rental Request Form
      • Download Brochure (pdf)
    • Groups / Tour Operators
      • Group Visit Request Form
    • Exploratorium Store
    • Contact Us
  • Education
    • Black Teachers and Students Matter
    • Professional Development Programs
      • Free Educator Workshops
      • Professional Learning Partnerships
      • Teacher Institute
        • About the Teacher Institute
        • Summer Institute for Teachers
        • Teacher Induction Program
        • Leadership Program
        • Teacher Institute Research
        • CA NGSS STEM Conferences
          • NGSS STEM Conference 2020
        • Science Snacks
          • Browse by Subject
          • Special Collections
          • Science Snacks A-Z
          • NGSS Planning Tools
          • Frequently Asked Questions
        • Digital Teaching Boxes
        • Meet the Teacher Institute Staff
        • Resources for Supporting Science Teachers
      • Institute for Inquiry
        • What Is Inquiry?
        • Watch and Do Science
        • Inquiry-based Science and English Language Development
          • Educators Guide
            • Conceptual Overview
              • Science Talk
              • Science Writing
            • Classroom Video Gallery
              • Magnet Investigation
              • Snail Investigation
            • Teacher Professional Development
            • Project Studies
            • Acknowledgments
          • Conference: Exploring Science and English Language Development
            • Interviews with Participants
            • Plenary Sessions
            • Synthesis, Documentation, and Resources
        • Workshops
          • Participant Portal
          • Fundamentals of Inquiry
            • Summary Schedule
          • BaySci Science Champions Academy
          • Facilitators Guides
          • Commissioned Workshops
        • Resource Library
        • Meet the IFI Staff
      • Resources for California Educators
      • K-12 Science Leader Network
      • Resources for Supporting Science Teachers
      • Field Trip Explainer Program
      • Cambio
    • Tools for Teaching and Learning
      • Learning Toolbox
      • Science Snacks
      • Digital Teaching Boxes
      • Science Activities
      • Tinkering Projects
      • Recursos gratuitos para aprender ciencias
      • Videos
      • Exhibits
      • Publications
      • Apps
      • Educator Newsletter
      • Exploratorium Websites
    • Educator Newsletter
    • Advancing Ideas about Learning
      • Visitor Research and Evaluation
        • What we do
        • Reports & Publications
        • Projects
        • Who we are
      • Center for Informal Learning in Schools
    • Community Programs
      • High School Explainer Program
      • Xtech
      • Community Educational Engagement
      • California Tinkering Afterschool Network
        • About
        • Partners
        • Resources
        • News & Updates
        • Further Reading
  • Explore
    • Browse by Subject
      • Arts
      • Astronomy & Space Sciences
        • Planetary Science
        • Space Exploration
      • Biology
        • Anatomy & Physiology
        • Ecology
        • Evolution
        • Genetics
        • Molecular & Cellular Biology
        • Neuroscience
      • Chemistry
        • Combining Matter
        • Food & Cooking
        • Materials & Matter
        • States of Matter
      • Data
        • Data Collection & Analysis
        • Modeling & Simulations
        • Visualization
      • Earth Science
        • Atmosphere
        • Geology
        • Oceans & Water
      • Engineering & Technology
        • Design & Tinkering
        • Real-World Problems & Solutions
      • Environmental Science
        • Global Systems & Cycles
        • Human Impacts
      • History
      • Mathematics
      • Nature of Science
        • Measurement
        • Science as a Process
        • Size & Scale
        • Time
      • Perception
        • Light, Color & Seeing
        • Listening & Hearing
        • Optical Illusions
        • Scent, Smell & Taste
        • Tactile & Touch
      • Physics
        • Electricity & Magnetism
        • Energy
        • Heat & Temperature
        • Light
        • Mechanics
        • Quantum
        • Sound
        • Waves
      • Social Science
        • Culture
        • Language
        • Psychology
        • Sociology
    • Browse by Content Type
      • Activities
      • Blogs
        • Spectrum
          • Arts
          • Behind the Scenes
          • News
          • Education
          • Community & Collaborations
          • Science
        • Eclipse
        • Studio for Public Spaces
        • Tangents
        • Resonance See & Hear Blog
        • Fabricated Realities
        • Tinkering Studio: Sketchpad
        • Exploratorium on Tumblr
      • Exhibits
      • Video
      • Websites
      • Apps
        • Total Solar Eclipse
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Land Acknowledgment
    • Explore Our Reach
    • Impact Report
    • Awards
    • Our History
      • 50 Years 1969–2019

    • Leadership Cabinet
    • Board of Trustees
    • Board of Trustees Alumni
    • Staff Scientists
    • Staff Artists

    • Arts at the Exploratorium
      • Artworks on View
      • Artist-in-Residence Program
      • Cinema Arts
        • History and Collection
        • Cinema Artists-in-Residence
        • Resources and Collaborating Organizations
        • Kanbar Forum
      • Center for Art & Inquiry
        • Begin Here
          • Lessons
            • Bob Miller/Light Walk
            • Ruth Asawa/Milk Carton Sculpture
          • Workshops
      • Resonance
        • About the Series
        • See & Hear
        • Past Seasons
      • Over the Water
      • Black Box
      • Upcoming Events
      • Temporary Exhibitions
      • Arts Program Staff
    • Teacher Institute
    • Institute for Inquiry
    • Explainer Programs
    • Studio for Public Spaces
    • Exhibit Making
    • Partnerships
      • Building Global Connections
        • Global Collaborations
          • Projects
          • Approach
          • People
          • Impact
      • Partnering with Science Agencies
        • NASA
        • NOAA
      • Partnering with Educational Institutions
      • Osher Fellows

    • Job Opportunities
    • Become a Volunteer

    • Contact Info
    • Newsletter
    • Educator Newsletter
    • Blogs
    • Follow & Share
    • Press Office

    • FY21 Audit Report
    • 990 FY20 Tax Return
    • Use Policy
      • Privacy Policy
      • Intellectual Property Policy
  • Join + Support
    • Donate Today!
    • Membership
      • Membership FAQ
      • Member Benefits
      • After Dark Membership
      • Member Events
      • May Is for Members
    • Join Our Donor Community
    • Engage Your Business
      • Corporate Membership
      • Luminary Partnerships
    • Attend a Fundraiser
      • Wonder Funday
      • Science of Cocktails
      • Party at the Piers
        • Event Leadership and Host Committee
    • Explore Our Reach
    • Thank You to Our Supporters
    • Donor & Corporate Member FAQ
    • Volunteer
      • How to Apply
      • Application for Internships
      • Our Contract
      • Application for Individuals
  • Press Office
    • Press Releases
    • News Coverage
    • Events Calendar
    • Photographs
    • Press Video
    • Press Kits
    • Press Visits
    • Exploratorium Logos
    • Recent Awards
    • Praise for the Exploratorium
    • Join Our Press List
  • Store

Masks and vaccinations are recommended. Plan your visit  

Visitor FAQ Buy Tickets Donate Today
Exploratorium
Exploratorium
  • Visit
    • Calendar
    • After Dark Thursdays
    • Buy Tickets
    • Exhibits
    • Museum Galleries
    • Artworks on View
    • Hours
    • Getting Here
    • Visitor FAQ
    • Event Rentals
    • Field Trips
  • Education
    • Professional Development Programs
    • Free Educator Workshops
    • Tools for Teaching and Learning
    • Learning About Learning
    • Community Programs
    • Educator Newsletter
  • Explore
    • Browse by Subject
    • Activities
    • Video
    • Exhibits
    • Apps
    • Blogs
    • Websites
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Partnerships
    • Global Collaborations
    • Explore Our Reach
    • Arts at the Exploratorium
    • Contact Us
  • Join + Support
    • Donate Today!
    • Membership
    • Join Our Donor Community
    • Engage Your Business
    • Attend a Fundraiser
    • Explore Our Reach
    • Thank You to Our Supporters
    • Donor & Corporate Member FAQ
    • Host Your Event
    • Volunteer
  • Store

Meet the IFI Staff

Michael Fairchild

Program Manager

As Program Manager for the Institute for Inquiry, Michael Fairchild is involved in a broad range of programmatic and administrative work, including departmental planning, budgeting, grant proposals and reports, project management, and content production. Michael came to the Institute for Inquiry in 2011 with a background in university academic administration. He holds a bachelor’s degree in fine art from Lipscomb University and studied architecture at the Ohio State University.

Michael likes to read and think about the history of architecture and art, and is particularly interested in abstract painting. In his spare time he makes small abstract drawings and paintings in oil and watercolor.

Andrew Ignacio

Project Coordinator

Andrew spent the entirety of his professional career in informal education. Prior to joining the Exploratorium, he oversaw the development and delivery of educational outreach programs at the Chabot Space & Science Center which reached thousands of learners throughout the Bay Area. After spending two years in Exploratorium’s Public Programs department, Andrew is now the project coordinator for the Institute for Inquiry.

Rachel Jordan

Science Educator

Rachel is a science educator with teaching experience at the elementary and middle school levels.  She has developed and provided professional development and classroom coaching in inquiry science for teachers.  In addition, she has supported several bay area school districts in implementing and/or improving their hands-on science programs.   She is particularly interested in the intersection of science, literacy and math instruction in elementary classrooms. 

Kelsey Lipsitz

Science Educator

Kelsey joins the Institute for Inquiry staff with a background in elementary science education and professional development. She taught fifth grade in her hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, before returning to her alma mater, the University of Missouri, for her Ph.D. in Science Education. During her doctoral studies, Kelsey was a research assistant for a professional development program dedicated to quality elementary science teaching, and taught preservice science methods courses. She also developed and facilitated workshops for educators at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Nebraska. Kelsey is interested in wildlife conservation, traveling, and exploring her new home state.

Lynn Rankin

Director

Lynn Rankin is Director of the Exploratorium’s Institute for Inquiry, a national professional development center for K–5 leaders and practitioners of elementary science reform efforts.  Lynn has decades of experience in science curricula development, teacher professional development and program design in both formal and informal learning environments.  She was a co-founder and faculty member of the Association of Science and Technology Centers' Professional Development Institutes for museum educators; she served on the faculty of the NSF funded Center for Informal Learning and Schools, a collaboration between the Exploratorium, King's College, and the University of California at Santa Cruz.  She has contributed to numerous national publications and committees, including the National Science Foundation’s, “Foundations II: Inquiry, Thoughts, Views and Strategies for the K-5 Classroom”, the National Academy of Science’s committee to develop "Inquiry and the national Science Education Standard's" and National Institute for Science Education's Committee on Professional Development. She has served as PI on numerous National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education and private foundation grants.  She leads the US DOE funded i3 (Investing in Innovation) project “Integrating ELD and Science: A Professional Development Approach” and the BaySci Science Champions Academy.  Before joining the Exploratorium in 1975, she taught elementary school in San Francisco Unified School District.

Fred Stein

Senior Science Educator

Fred was the Education Director at the Science Discovery Museum in Acton, Massachusetts, before joining the Institute for Inquiry staff. In addition to teaching high school biology and math, he has developed curricula, taught distance learning courses, and preservice science methods courses. Fred holds an EdD from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Cathy Wong

Science Educator

Cathy is a science educator with experience as an elementary classroom teacher and coach. She has previously taught in New York, New Jersey, Taiwan, and California. Her passion is student talk, which has led her to support teachers, schools, and districts with their oral discourse initiatives. She has been published in The Reading Teacher and presented professional development workshops in literacy and oral language. She has a BA from Yale University and an MA in elementary/early childhood education from the Columbia Teachers College. Her favorite exhibit at the Exploratorium is the mesmerizing and impressive Sweeper’s Clock.

COLLABORATORS

 

Sarah Capitelli

Assistant Professor, University of San Francisco

Sarah Capitelli is an Assistant Professor at the University of San Francisco in the School of Education’s Teacher Education Department. Sarah works with pre-service and practicing teachers to support their developing pedagogical practices for teaching bilingual, English learner, and immigrant students.  She facilitates a teacher inquiry group comprised of USF graduates and current SFUSD teachers focused on supporting teachers’ systematic examination of student data to improve their teaching practices with English learners.  She also coordinates the Bilingual Authorization Program at USF.  Additionally, Sarah has been working with IFI at the Exploratorium since 2012 contributing a language development perspective to IFI’s inquiry-based science professional development work.  Previously, Sarah was a kindergarten teacher in Anaco, Venezuela for two years and a first and second grade Spanish-bilingual teacher in East Oakland for six years.  She received her MA in Early Childhood Development and Bilingual Teacher Credential from Mills College and her PhD in Educational Linguistics from Stanford University.  Her research focuses on young English learners and their teachers and the role teacher inquiry can play in improving pedagogical practices for English learners. 

Barry Kluger-Bell

Inquiry Science Educator

Barry Kluger-Bell, Ph.D.(physics) is an independent Inquiry Science Education consultant based in Boulder, Colorado. He works with educators throughout the country in K-12 teacher professional development, science graduate student education training, informal science education, pre-school science education and science curriculum development. He also currently serves on the board of Denver, RAFT, the WOW Museum and the steering committee of the Boulder Area STEM Education Coalition. From 1988-2009 he served as the Assistant Director for Science at the Exploratorium’s Institute for Inquiry in San Francisco. He has also directed the Bay Area Science Project at the Lawrence Hall of Science, taught Physics and Math at Chabot Community College in California, and directed a program for incoming minority and economically underprivileged students at the University of California at Berkeley. He started his career in science education while still in graduate school by working with David and Francis Hawkins at the Mountain View Center in Boulder, Colorado.

Institute for Inquiry

  • What Is Inquiry?
  • Watch and Do Science
  • Inquiry-based Science and English Language Development
  • Workshops
  • Resource Library
  • Meet the IFI Staff



Connect with us!



  •   Sign up for our educator newsletter

  •   Follow #ExploEDU

  •  ifi@exploratorium.edu

Exploratorium
Visit
Join
Give

Pier 15
(Embarcadero at Green Street)
San Francisco, CA 94111
415.528.4444

Contact Us

  • Plan Your Visit
  • Calendar
  • Buy Tickets
  • Getting Here
  • Store
  • Event Rentals
  • About Us
  • Become a Member
  • Donate
  • Jobs
  • Volunteer
  • Press Office
  • Land Acknowledgment

Get at-home activities and learning tools delivered straight to your inbox

The Exploratorium is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our tax ID #: 94-1696494
© 2023 Exploratorium | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Your California Privacy Rights |