STORY COLLIDER PRESENTS: STORIES FROM the Exploratorium
The Story Collider is delighted to partner with Exploratorium to bring you a special After Dark Thursday.
On February 23, experience the world through a new lens with an exciting night of live storytelling! Science doesn’t just happen; it’s made by the collective work of individuals asking questions and questioning answers.
Join us in the Osher Gallery 1, Kanbar Forum to hear five true, personal stories about science and encounters with curiosity from the people who live these investigations
Hosted by Story Collider’s Misha Gajewski and Kayla Glynn.
Or tune into the livestream here.
STORies by:
Julie Yu is a Senior Scientist at the Exploratorium, San Francisco's museum of science, art, and human perception. She provides science content support throughout the museum and works with teachers to bring inquiry-based science learning to their classrooms. With a broad interest in all sciences, she has a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, with a minor in molecular and cell biology. Her work and research have spanned from viruses and stem cells to teacher learning and inquiry to concrete and cement. This has led to a myriad of opportunities, including teaching science to Tibetan monks and nuns, launching an explosion of 2000 ping pong balls, and acquiring a US patent. She is currently captivated with thinking about food as a way of bringing together key interests of science, culture, identity, and eating.
Marc “Zeke” Kossover has been presenting stories as part of his physics circus shows all over the country in venues from coffee shops and music halls to the National Science Foundation and Capitol Hill. He thinks of them as magic shows, but in reverse—the secret to a magic trick is to make something simple intentionally confusing, while Zeke tries to make confusing things easy to understand. Zeke was a physics and environmental science teacher before dying and going to teacher heaven and getting a job at the Exploratorium. His main work is helping science teachers have the resources they need to be the best teachers they can be, like designing novel hands-on activities for teachers to use in their classrooms and helping new teachers find their voices in their classrooms. He believes that science education starts when students construct their own understanding of the world.
A Blaxican American and Southern California native, Dr. Desiré Whitmore, aka “LASERchick”, began her education in Community College and holds degrees in Physical Sciences, Chemical Engineering, and Chemical and Material Physics. Formerly, she has worked as a scientist in a national lab, a K-8 science curriculum developer, and a community college professor. She now works as the Exploratorium’s Staff Physicist Educator, where she bridges the gap between hands-on science, teacher education, and science communication.
John Aubert is a Professor of Geography and Environmental Sciences at American River College in Sacramento, CA. After realizing that his family and friends were finally getting tired of hearing his stories, he was ecstatic to discover that he could tell them to strangers! He has taken the stage at numerous Moth Story Slams and has been a featured storyteller for Capital Storytelling, Story Collider, RISK!, Six Feet Apart Productions, Artists Standing Strong Together, and Armchair Expert. In addition to storytelling, John's other interests include hiking, fly fishing, movies, and volunteering in his community.
Ralph Washington, Jr. has been a devoted student of insects since his early childhood. Insects have taught him that the smallest creatures can often help answer the biggest questions. One of his favorite lessons is the reminder that although life can often be hard, at least he isn’t a termite getting paralyzed by a toxic fart. You can learn more about his work at ralphwashingtonjr.com.