Back to workshop home page Learning from the Frontier: Getting Planetary Data in the Hands of Educators March 14, 2004

Workshop Participant Bios

I would describe myself as a planetary scientist, though since completing my Ph.D. in 1999, my jobs have been varied. I have worked as a Community/Science Liaison for the SeaWiFS and SIMBIOS projects at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. I started my own consulting company where I completed projects such as mapping fish populations and migrations for presentation to the public, analyzing hyperspectral mineral data for other scientists, and teaching undergraduate university courses. I am currently employed as a Lecturer and Outreach Coordinator at the University of Toronto, Department of Geology. I continue to do research in my spare time.

My interest in education and public outreach stems from the fact that I firmly believe that education and research feed off one another. Speaking to students and the public about current research enhances one's own research potential by highlighting areas of weakness and energizing one's interest in their own research again. In turn, students and the public like to hear from the actual scientists who do the work. It is a symbiotic relationship.

Integrating planetary data into education and outreach activities is a mixed bag. Success can be as simple as giving a general interest talk, using some of the latest imagery from current research. More difficult is to include planetary data into course work. I have had moderate success incorporating Magellan data into a mapping assignment I give to my introductory geology class. Most difficult is to allow students or the public to manipulate actual data using the electronic tools scientists use. I am currently trying to attract one or two second-year undergraduate students to do a research project using Clementine data. In this way, I can involve a few students in my personal research. However, the challenge of how to do something like this with a class of 150 students still eludes me.

I am not sure what I expect to get from this workshop. I know I find the matter very interesting and I am curious to see what I will find out. In short, I am open to anything I can learn here.

David V. Black

I teach a program in computer graphics, 3D modeling, and multimedia authoring to high school and adult students in the Provo, Utah area. I have also taught high-school Earth science, astronomy, and geology courses, and I integrate science and math into my technology classes. Using NASA data and images has been a logical way to do this while keeping inside my required curriculum; I use space exploration as a theme for my classes.

Through a great deal of experimentation, I have found ways of using the 3D altitude data acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor's MOLA instrument. With inexpensive or free software that can handle digital elevation models, I teach my students how to download this data, import it and add realistic textures, then render images and animations. I have translated this data into a more general format that other 3D modeling software can read. To demonstrate how this data is acquired, transmitted, and analyzed, I have developed an entire unit of lessons that simulates this process, which I will distribute at the workshop.

In addition, I use diagrams and photos of the space probes as the starting point for my students to develop mission fact sheets while learning desktop publishing, create probe diagrams while learning vector illustration, and build 3D models and animations of the probes while learning modeling skills. They will put all of these parts together into a final group multimedia project on Mars Exploration, complete with video clips and games.

I am involved in several NASA educational programs, including the NASA Explorer Schools workshops. I have been the Educator Facilitator for NES at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for three years. I am also a NASA/JPL Solar System Educator, and have received advanced training from the Education and Public Outreach coordinators for many of the space missions at JPL. I then share this training with at least 100 Utah teachers each year. My students are currently one of 54 Mars Exploration Student Data Teams in the country. They have been granted access to the scientific data coming from the Mars Global Surveyor TES instrument and the Mars Odyssey THEMIS instrument. Their responsibilities are to track and analyze the data and look for patterns that may indicate an approaching dust storm, to characterize the geomorphology of the MER landing sites, predict the paths of the orbiters to know when they will be over the landing sites, and other duties. We have taken the data and created 3D animations showing the progression of the dust storm that spread on Mars in December 2003. We have created animations and QTVR scenes of the landing sites and other areas on Mars, built models of the crater that Opportunity landed in based on the contour map, etc.

The most important issues facing teachers with respect to the Planetary Data System are issues of access (finding and downloading the data), appropriate technology (most of us don't have the software or hardware to actually read the data onto our computers), training (most teachers don't know the data even exists or how to use it), and pedagogy (just how to fit this data into state and national curriculum standards).

Edith G. Davis

The world of science is a part of my life. My science interests started at a very early age, beginning with my mother teaching me the parts of a plant. By high school, I was excelling in science and was introduced to geology on a biology field trip. I went on to the University of Miami, Florida, where I earned a degree in geology and mathematics. At Miami, I was awarded a U.S. Geological Survey fellowship to Woods Hole, Cape Cod, where I learned about the field of geophysics. I went on to receive a Masters in Geophysics from Stanford University.

My science background has opened doors to many opportunities in my life, including my career experiences with scientific laboratories; with the U.S. Geological Survey; with oil, gas, and auto industries; and with an environmental agency. As a result of these experiences, I easily transitioned into the field of education. Most recently, I was a graduate assistant for the Summer Math Lab for all ages at Baylor University. Before Baylor, I was Head of Training at a major industrial manufacturing facility in Kansas City, Missouri. I also taught science at several high schools in the Kansas City area. Prior to that, I was the director of a science program for young girls at Pennsylvania State University.

My teaching experiences have taught me that a child's understanding of the natural world and the scientific laws that govern it will enable him or her to be able to find solutions to some of the most pressing issues that face our world. Today's problems include maintaining clean water and air, sustaining quality food supplies, and finding cures for certain diseases. It is my objective to demystify science and make it transparent for all to understand. It is also my objective to make science fun and relevant to the student's world. I plan to model the five key behaviors of an effective educator, which are to make lessons clear, provide instructional variety, be task oriented, engage students, and increase student's learning success rates. But, even after following the education models and methods, I have learned that I will only become an effective educator by truly caring about the students and the subject that I am teaching. I may not be able to solve the world's problems, but I may teach someone that can improve the world's conditions.

It is a natural progression for me to pursue a Doctorate in Education in Curriculum and Instructions with an emphasis in Science Education. My life experiences have come together to prepare me for this moment in life. I am ready to focus my life's ambitions and interests to, of course, "make a difference" and "give something back." But my desire to study education in science is also my calling. My pursuing a Doctorate is not about developing my career but about fulfilling my purpose. I was a scientist, a business professional, a corporate trainer, and now, I am becoming an educator. I want to be the type of science teacher that ignites the desire in children to learn and, in particular, to learn about science. I wish to model great teachers such as my mother, who has taught close to 20 years and is presently in Germany working for the Department of Defense. I want to make the world of science transparent and inviting, and in conclusion make science meaningful to students.

Tom Gaskins

Tom Gaskins is the Technical Manager for the NASA Learning Technologies Office. He is involved in identifying educational technologies, especially software, that help primary through high school students learn math and science. One current project, NASA World Wind, integrates high-resolution imagery of Earth and other planets in a desktop software virtual globe. The imagery is drawn from satellite and space shuttle sources, as well as Web Mapping Service (WMS) servers.

Meredith Higbie

Ms. Higbie graduated from Skidmore College with honors in geosciences and computer science. During an internship at the Lunar and Planetary Institute she created a geographical information database using Viking and Mars Global Surveyor data (MOC and MOLA) to investigate the geomorphology of Valles Marineris. She then worked as a professional research assistant at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado performing various computer models of hydrologic and geophysical processes on Mars. In 2003, she returned to the Lunar and Planetary Institute to work for the Education and Public Outreach Department and is the Assistant Director for the South Central Organization of Researchers and Educators (SCORE) Broker/Facilitator in the NASA Office of Space Science's Support Network.

Dr. Mary Ibe

Dr. Ibe has been a middle school science teacher since 1986, earning National Board Certification in 2001. Through her work at the Lewis Center for Educational Research in Apple Valley, California, she has researched science education, particularly the use of science inquiry techniques in instruction and how this impacts students' scientific efficacy. She has studied the relationship between students' participation in the Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope project and their feelings about themselves and the world of science. Currently, she is studying interactions between students and scientists who communicate via teleconferences about the data the students collect, the projects on which they jointly work, and general information about the life of a scientist.

Felipe Ip

Felipe Ip is a graduate student at the University of Arizona studying hydrology and water resources with a minor in remote sensing. His public outreach experience includes:

Mr. Ip started working with the Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment in October 2003, and has been working with huge EO-1 Hyperion image datasets, trying to develop a floodwater classifier that will be used for the detection and monitoring of floods. Work is conducted at a ground-truth field site in Avra Valley, Arizona. At this site, there are groundwater recharge basins for which we have ground, airborne, and satellite imagery. At the same time, there are good controls of water movements in the basins, i.e., flooding and drying of individual basins. Knowledge gained from this workshop will be applied to showcase this field site to the general public and the science community as an ideal test site for studying Earth processes from space with implications for other planets. The geology at the site and its surroundings is analogous in many ways to what is observed on Mars. Flood related features that can be observed include terraces, polygonal-patterned ground, push ridges, and fractures.

Sheri Klug

Ms. Klug is the Director of the ASU Mars Education Program within the Mars Space Flight Facility, Department of Geological Sciences, at Arizona State University. Ms. Klug is the formal education lead for the Mars Public Engagement Team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and is the Education and Public Outreach representative on the Solar System Exploration Subcommittee for NASA Headquarters. She has bachelors' and masters' degrees in Earth Science Education and is a certified teacher with K-12 science teaching experience. Ms. Klug and the staff of the ASU Mars Education Program provide hands-on, inquiry-based Mars workshops for K-16 educators, create and coordinate Mars-related national field trips, are members of the NASA National Girl Scout Leadership training team, and participate in Mars-related public outreach events. The ASU Mars Education Program was established over 12 years ago and emphasizes classroom and educator connectivity with Mars scientists and engineers.

The ASU Mars Education Program is the facilitator of the Mars Student Imaging Project, which allows fifth grade through community college student teams across the U.S. to participate in authentic Mars research using a spacecraft camera currently in orbit around Mars. During the recent Mars Exploration Rover missions, the ASU team has also beta-tested a new program allowing virtual high school student teams to collaborate together while having access to real-time data in support of a landed mission [Mars Exploration Student Data Team (MESDT)]. With Mars missions launching every 26 months, this concept is one that can help to develop a pipeline of students that can be involved in actual missions and data analysis in hopes of allowing them to deepen their understanding and knowledge of core science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects through hands-on experiences.

Dr. Tamara Shapiro Ledley

Dr. Ledley, a senior scientist at TERC, received her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983. She has conducted a research program in Earth system science with an emphasis on the polar regions at Rice University for 15 years and has authored over 30 scientific papers. She has also been involved in Earth system science education activities that include developing museum exhibits that bring near real time images of the Earth to the public, directing teacher training programs in the Earth sciences, developing Earth system science learning activities for the GLOBE program, and developing scientific research programs for the participation of students. Most recently she has been involved in the national digital library efforts. Dr. Ledley received an NSF National Science Digital Library (NSDL, www.nsdl.org) grant to develop the Earth Exploration Toolbook (serc.carleton.edu/eet), which is a digital library resource that develops step-by-step instructions for the use of an Earth science dataset and data analysis tool to facilitate use by teachers in the classroom. She has also received an NSF grant to lead the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE, www.dlese.org) Data Services (www.dlese.org/people/info_dataservices.html) team effort. In addition, she is chair of the Standing Committee for Education for the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP Federation, www.esipfed.org), an organization of 74 organizations whose mission is to bring the wealth of NASA's Earth science data to the broader community.

Elaine Lewis

Ms. Lewis is the Curriculum Development Specialist of the Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum team. Her undergraduate degree is in American Studies and Elementary Education with an additional emphasis in science. She began her teaching career in 1980 and introduced the use of computers in the classroom as well as a hands-on approach for teaching that emphasized mainstreaming special students in a regular science classroom. In 1986 she accepted a position with Prince George's Public School System, teaching eighth grade science and mathematics, in a school that worked with a large population of students of other languages (ESOL). During the summer months she worked as a textbook consultant, "Teaching Students of Other Languages - English" in the content areas, mainly science. She received her M.A. in Curriculum Development in 1985 and a second M.A. in Administration and Supervision in 1990. She received the Secondary Science Teacher Award for Prince George's County Public Schools and was the State Finalist Presidential Awardee for Secondary Science Education. She has received several grants for teacher preparation and student enrichment. Elaine joined the NASA Education Office as a "Teacher on Loan" in 1996 as the coordinator of programs such as the NASA Educational Workshop, GLOBE, and the JASON Project. In 2000 she became a team member of the SECEF at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. During the time that she has worked with the SECEF team she has initiated and lead the OSS Product Review, Sun-Earth Day, and the Student Observation Network.

Dr. Marilyn Lindstrom

Dr. Lindstrom is Discipline Scientist for the Planetary Instrument Definition and Development Program and Program Scientist for Solar System Exploration E/PO in the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA Headquarters. She is a geochemist who led a dual life in science and education at NASA Johnson Space Center before moving to Headquarters. She has partnered with educators to write classroom activities and with museums to develop exhibits and planetarium shows.

Leslie L. Lowes

Ms. Lowes is the Co-Director for NASA's Solar System Exploration Education (SSE) and Public Outreach (E/PO) Forum. In this role, she is responsible for the budget, planning, goal- and objective-setting, team management, and customer interfaces. She proactively seeks to promote the utilization of programs and resources that facilitate access to the use of actual NASA SSE data in formal and informal educational settings, leveraging the unique opportunities that solar system exploration offers for inspiring an interest in learning. She co-led a working group devoted to exploring uses of planetary data in educational settings.

A firm believer in explaining to the taxpayers how their money is being used in a clear and understandable manner, and what value it holds for them, she transitioned to the professional field of E/PO in 1996 as NASA's Office of Space Science (OSS) began its strategic planning and implementation. She began her E/PO career as the Galileo Mission to Jupiter Lead Outreach Coordinator. She has initiated some innovative E/PO programs such as the Galileo Ambassador to Jupiter Program, the seed program for the highly visible Solar System Ambassador Program, and managed the establishment a national relationship with the Girl Scouts of the USA. Leslie's implementation of programs and building of relationships with the E/PO community external to NASA is based on the philosophy of "asking the customer what they want."

In synergy with the OSS strategy of the involvement of the scientific research community in E/PO, she brings understanding and cultural awareness of the scientific research field from 15 years of Earth atmospheric data processing and data management for JPL, and holds an M.S. in Mathematics from California State University Los Angeles and a B.S. in Physics from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Linda M. V. Martel

I've worked at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology since 1993 on a variety of NASA K-14 E/PO projects related to meteorites and the exploration of the Moon and Mars. Mainly Web-based, my work focuses on sharing the value and excitement of planetary science and space resource utilization and explaining how research results are inspiring fundamental discoveries about our solar system. Jeff Taylor and I are co-investigators on a NASA grant to share discoveries in cosmochemistry and planetary geology with the public through the PSRD Web magazine, a project cosponsored by the Hawai'i Space Grant Consortium. Another project in the works is a new Web magazine sharing discoveries in astrobiology for the University of Hawai'i NAI team.

I've been an instructor for planetary geoscience courses for teachers through the Hawai'i Space Grant Consortium and at NASA workshops and have served on several NASA E/PO review panels. With Jeff Taylor and a team of local educators we created "Exploring the Moon Teacher's Guide with Activities" (NASA Publication EG-1997-10-116-HQ), which accompanies the Lunar Sample Disks loaned to schools. This book is currently scheduled for updating with remote sensing mission data.

I seek a better understanding of the data types and formats of particular interest to the education community so that I can try to incorporate them into E/PO projects and be a better advocate for well-documented data archives for all users.

Links:

Exploring the Moon: A Teacher's Guide with Activities for Earth and Space Sciences

Planetary Science Research Discoveries (PSRD)

Exploring Planets in the Classroom: A K-12 Education Project of the Hawai'i Space Grant Consortium

Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology

Shannon McConnell

Shannon has been at JPL since August 1990. Her first position at that laboratory was as Data Analyst for the Magellan Venus Radar Mapper. She then moved on to sequence design and integration for Galileo and Mission Planning and Operations for the shuttle based SIR-C missions flown in 1994.

Shannon has been a member of the Cassini Flight Team since 1993 working as a member of the Radar Science Team and as mission planning lead for various launch and early cruise sequences.

Shannon moved onto the outreach team in September 1998 and has been the Cassini formal education lead since that time. In spring 2001, Shannon assumed the reigns as Galileo Outreach Lead. She designs and tests classroom materials, coordinates budgets, hosts educator workshops, and produces outreach products for various uses.

Shannon spent three years teaching middle school U.S. and world history. She holds a bachelor of science in Astronomy and Physics and a masters of science in Environmental Engineering, both from the University of Southern California. Shannon is a member of the National Science Teacher's Association, the California Science Teacher's Association, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and the Pasadena Tournament of Roses.

Each day during Cassini's four-year Saturn tour, the spacecraft will record and playback a minimum of 1 gigabit of science data. That translates into 1.46 x 10 12 bits over the four-year period of the tour. This data represent 12 instruments studying Saturn in a variety of manners from images in multiple wavelengths, radar, plasma wave science, magnetospheric science, and a variety of other disciplines.

Building an education program utilizing this enormous inventory of data allows students to learn the complex aspects of data analysis using real data from Cassini. Furthermore, since the majority of data do not fall into the traditional category of visible images, students can use truly unique datasets in their analyses.

The possibilities for student achievement are virtually endless, from class projects, regional and state science fair entries, and possible publication in technical journals.

Dr. Steven Moore

Steven Moore holds a Ph.D. in Renewable Natural Resources Studies and Sociology from the University of Arizona. He has taught environmental studies, human biology, environmental management, sociology, and outdoor recreation management at the University of Arizona, Pima Community College, and St. Lawrence University. He has served as the project director and evaluator for National Science Foundation programs in mathematics and science education, professional development for teachers, and development of minority participation in science careers. He also has conducted environmental and sociological research for the U.S. Department of Defense, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and the University of Arizona. Dr. Moore manages CIPE's EDGES project, is the Principal Investigator on CIPE's Visualizing Addiction, Ocean Explorers, Visual Landscape Explorers, SIMPLE Science, and Mapping Ocean Sanctuaries grants, and Co-Principal Investigator on the Consortium for Optics and Imaging Education project of Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York, and CIPE's NeuroVisions project. Dr. Moore was recently named the Chief Executive Officer of Science-Approach, LLC, a for-profit organization that creates inquiry-based educational products for K-college education. Dr. Moore's current research emphasis is on helping educators design inquiry-based educational activities that support specific state and federal standards for science and mathematics education.

Gisela Poesges

Since 1990 I have worked as a geologist and palaeontologist at the Ries Crater Museum. I'm also the vice director of the Museum. My main task is to educate students concerning planetological, geological, and palaeontological items, inclusive guided tours of the museum and crater field trips. I try to make the Ries geology more transparent. In addition, I try to impart information concerning our solar system, the local geology. and other impact structures, e.g., our neighbouring crater, Steinheim basin. Close to the museum, the ZERIN (the center for Ries crater and impact research) is housed in a renewed medieval building. In this building the complete drill core of the research drilling of Noerdlingen 1973 is accessible. In addition to that it is possible to organize workshops for students and interested laymen in the facilities of the ZERIN. Both institutions can be actively combined - the museum and the scientific research center (ZERIN) for more theoretical studies, and the crater itself for more practical studies. During the workshop I hope to get new and more detailed information concerning planetology and the characteristics of impact craters.

Dhananjay Ravat

My background is in geophysics and I teach Solid-Earth Geophysics, Tectonics, and Environmental Geophysics at the senior/graduate level, and Gravity and Magnetics at the graduate level. I do research with satellite-derived Earth and Mars magnetic data and also to some degree environmental and exploration geophysics. I also teach segments of freshman environmental geology and have begun teaching the Planets course at the junior level for students with a primarily non-science background. I think the latter course could benefit the most from this workshop. This course is writing intensive and presently involves short essay tests, papers, a few laboratory exercises, and a "Mars Mission Design" exercise. To a large degree, the requirements are part of our university core curriculum and cannot be modified.

My problem in the Planets course is that a large amount of my students (about 75%) don't really want to do any work (or at least get away with as little as possible). And sometimes they are resentful of many of the above activities. For example, one year the Mars Mission Design exercise was a great success, and the next year it was a flop (I can't make sense of this). Perhaps this is the challenge I will have to overcome myself. However, if I could assign them some group projects at the beginning of the semester that could grow in difficulty and knowledge required as the semester progresses, and if the topics actually covered some of the course topics using planetary data, then I think I could make them interested and responsible. I think this may require some computerized modules that the students could do outside of the class on their own. Perhaps something like this is already available.

At some point, I would like to develop also a graduate level Planets course and have more advanced assignments with the planetary data. I think I can generate something with gravity and magnetics, but I could benefit from how I could involve examples of other types of datasets and their analysis, etc.

John D. Ristvey Jr.

John D. Ristvey Jr. co-manages McREL's education and public outreach (E/PO) team. He specializes in technical and science expertise, instructional materials design, and professional development. Mr. Ristvey holds an M.S. in Secondary Science Education from the University of Houston-Clear Lake, Texas, along with certifications in teaching secondary science and biology. A Lead Consultant at McREL starting in 1999, he is responsible for managing the work and resources of multiple contracts, including NASA's Dawn mission E/PO, Disney Educational Productions contracts, ABC News Classroom Edition, as well as grants including online course facilitation in Earth Systems Science through the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, The Center for Educational Technology, and offered for graduate credit through the Colorado School of Mines. He also manages the Adaptive Curriculum Enhancement (ACE) program working with the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind through NASA's IDEAS program. In his role as instructional materials designer, he is involved in managing designing, writing, and editing science modules for the McREL EPO team; reviewing content and process of science modules; making conference presentations; networking with science vendors; field testing science education modules; setting up pilot sites for review of materials; providing professional development to classroom teachers; and monitoring evaluations from schools. He has been involved in the development of two NASA Genesis science education modules that relate to planetary data for students in 8-12 classrooms.

Cosmic Chemistry Planetary Diversity
During the explorations of the Cosmic Chemistry: Planetary Diversity module, students will make decisions concerning possible patterns or groupings of the physical and chemical compositions of internal structures and atmospheres of planets.

Data Analysis and Generalizations
Data: Analysis and Generalizations is an advanced high school module or post-secondary module that engages students in studying real solar wind information collected from the Genesis spacecraft and posted on the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Genesis Science Data Web site.

Mr. Don Robinson-Boonstra

Mr. Robinson-Boonstra has thirty-three years of experience as an educator. During this time, he has been a teacher, Math and Science Department Chair, Curriculum Coordinator, and Principal. He is currently working as a NASA Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum as Education Specialist and Coordinator of the Student Observation Network. His emphasis has been on developing innovative curriculum, courses, and units. In the process he has kept current with education research, curriculum innovation, and management techniques. He has designed and written eight unique courses including Elements of Laboratory Science for St. Albans, Ethics for Ethel Walker School, and Physics, History and Philosophy for the Key School. He has successfully incorporated NASA mission and program science into activities, lessons, and units using best practices in educational design. He has conducted numerous teacher-training workshops bringing NASA science into the classroom. Don has a masters' degree in Education with an emphasis on Special Needs Administration from Framingham State College and an undergraduate degree in Chemistry (with a minor in Chemical Engineering) from the University of Michigan, where he did biochememical research.

Dr. Philip J. Sakimoto

Dr. Sakimoto is the Director (Acting) of NASA's extensive Space Science Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) Program, with the overall responsibility for planning, directing, and overseeing all aspects of the program and coordinating its activities with those of the NASA Education Enterprise.

Prior to this appointment, he served as a Program Planning Specialist for Space Science E/PO, generally responsible for programmatic management of the Space Science E/PO program and with specific responsibilities for overseeing the national network of space science E/PO Broker/Facilitators, leading space science diversity initiatives, and managing space science programs with Minority Universities. Dr. Sakimoto has also served as a University Programs Specialist for NASA's Minority University Research and Education Program.

Prior to coming to NASA Headquarters, Dr. Sakimoto served as University Affairs Officer for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and as Assistant Director of the Johns Hopkins Space Grant Consortium. He has been a Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and an Instructor in Astronomy at Compton Community College and at the Terminal Island Federal Correctional Institution in California.

Dr. Sakimoto holds a B.A. in Physics from Pomona College, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of California at Los Angeles. His research interests have focused on magnetohydrodynamic models of the energy sources of quasi-stellar objects and active galactic nuclei.

Dr. Sakimoto began his affiliation with NASA activities in 1976 when, as a student intern at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he was a member of the Viking Science Team that carried out the first scientific investigations on the surface of Mars.

Dr. Steve Saunders

Dr. Saunders is Program Scientist for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to be launched in 2005. He is Discipline Scientist for the Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program, a research and analysis program that supports planetary research throughout the U.S. He is also Program Scientist for the NASA Planetary Data System. Before coming to NASA Headquarters he was at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as Project Scientist of the Odyssey mission, which is currently mapping Mars. Saunders was Project Scientist of the Magellan Mission that mapped Venus in the 1990s. As Project Scientist for the Planetary Data System and Director of the JPL Regional Planetary Image Facility, he has helped make NASA's planetary data available to the public and to researchers throughout the world. He was the first Director of the Office of Space Science Solar System Exploration Education and Outreach Forum. He is twice a recipient of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1988, 2002) and has received the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement medal (1991). His primary professional interest is in planetary geology, and has studied the geological processes of the Moon, Venus, and Mars extensively. He attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison (B.Sc. in geology), and Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (Ph.D. in geology).

Dr. Stephanie Shipp

Dr. Shipp is Manager of Education and Public Outreach at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI). She is Director of the South Central Organization of Researchers and Educators (SCORE), a Broker/Facilitator in the NASA Office of Space Science's Support Network. Her degree, from the Department of Geology and Geophysics (now Earth Science) at Rice University, concentrated on understanding the changes in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet following the last glacial period. While working in Antarctica, Stephanie became interested in connecting the public with science. She collaborated on an Internet-based middle-school curriculum that used Antarctica as the central theme to engage students in Earth science. She directed the Teachers Experiencing Antarctica and the Arctic (TEA) Program for eight years, serving in the role of P.I. through the American Museum of Natural History between 1999 and 2004. Through this program, K-12 teachers worked one-on-one in the field with polar researchers, and were charged with transferring the research experience to the classroom. Collaboration with educators in the TEA Program taught Stephanie the immense value of having educators - and students - experience science through direct involvement. The authentic experience, be it in the field or through using real data, generates excitement, questions, and investment from the participants. In teaching Earth science courses for middle-school educators, Shipp has made an effort to integrate current research and real data into the content discussions and into the materials that would be taken into classrooms. She and the E/PO team at the LPI are working to develop programs that serve the needs of formal and informal educators; the first step is to develop an understanding of those needs, and workshops such as this one offer a rich opportunity to do so.

Anita Sohus

Anita Sohus is the Lead for Informal Education at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. Her current task is helping to create the Mars Museum Visualization Alliance (Mars Viz) with the goal of sharing the exploration of Mars with the public through museums, planetaria, and science centers. Over 100 such organizations are currently receiving daily images and information from the Mars rover missions. They are including this material in their live programming and educational activities. Sohus hopes to learn who is doing what in integrating planetary data into educational work, and how her team may collaborate.

Dr. Stephanie Stockman

Dr. Stockman is the E/PO lead for MESSENGER, a Discovery Mission to Mercury and for the Goddard node of the NASA Astrobiology Institute. She also coordinates the E/PO efforts of EOS Aura (an atmospheric chemistry satellite) and the Landsat 7 Project Science Office. In addition, Stockman is the Education Co-Investigator for the GLOBE Aerosol/UV investigation. She has over 10 years of experience in geoscience education and research including developing curriculum materials, designing and conducting teacher workshops, teaching geology and chemistry at the community college level, and providing education support to the Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics at Goddard Space Flight Center. Stockman has a B.S. in Geology from Towson State University, extensive graduate work in structural geology, and a M.Ed. in Geoscience Education from the University of Maryland. While at Maryland, she worked with the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation, an NSF-funded project to prepare upper-elementary and middle-school preservice teachers to teach science and mathematics. She began work at Goddard as a part-time Mars researcher in the Geodynamics Branch and gradually moved into E/PO after Mars Observer disappeared.

Joe Wise

Mr. Wise is the director of The Center for Effective Learning at New Roads School. He is entering his thirtieth year of classroom teaching.

He currently is the E/PO manager for the NASA DAWN mission and is an educational consultant working with NASA's Institute for Cell Mimetic Space Exploration, NSF's Center for Embedded Networked Sensing, and NSF's Role Grant Program. For the past seventeen years, Mr. Wise has been at the forefront of extending technology into the classroom through the W. M. Keck Math/Science Institute (founder and director) and the Center for Effective Learning (founder and director).

The Dawn E/PO team plans to include extensive use of NASA data from previous missions to illustrate the process of science. The proper use of this information allows the general public to share, with mission scientists, the anticipation and expectation for our arrival at Vesta and Ceres.

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