Kerri Beisser, is a member of the Lab’s Senior Professional Staff. Before coming to APL, Ms. Beisser worked as a Project Manager for the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, where she was the project manager for national Educator Fellowship programs for NASA’s Cassini, STARDUST and Galileo missions. She also worked for the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. Here she conducted student and teacher training in the history of the space program and in the fields of aerospace, engineering, technology, and space station/space shuttle activities. She also conducted corporate training programs and special events for Space Camp such as training the cast of the movie Apollo 13. Since joining APL in 1999 as the Space Department’s Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) Manager, Ms. Beisser has managed the education and public outreach programs for NASA missions from the Sun to Pluto and beyond. These included the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission and the NASA “Vision Mission” Innovative Interstellar Probe. Currently, she manages the E/PO programs for the Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) mission, the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) instrument for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), for the Solar-TErrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft, the Radiation Belt Storm Probes Mission (RBSP), and the Solar Probe Plus mission.  She is an E/PO senior advisor to the NASA Lunar Precursor Robotics Program at Marshall Space Flight Center. 

Barbara Maggi is the Outreach Director for the Department of Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (APS) at Hampton University.  In this capacity she works closely with scientists and agencies such as NASA, NSF and NOAA to develop Science Education and Public Outreach programs for teachers, students and the public.  Ms. Maggi previously served as a public school teacher and education specialist for the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, in charge of developing, instructing, and assessing K-12 teacher enhancement programs in science and technology.  She also assisted with implementing the NASA ESSEA Earth system science online course offered at Hampton University.  In addition to working with K-12 teachers, Ms. Maggi previously implemented a four year NASA undergraduate summer research mentorship, Advanced Undergraduate Research using Optical Radiation in the Atmosphere (AURORA).  Currently, she implements an NSF funded 2009 Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in Atmospheric Science at HU.  She also continues to implement professional development programs for teachers for two NASA satellite based research missions, Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO); a NASA AESP program Moon, Motion, and Mysteries; and a yearly symposium on climate change for high school students in Mexico.

Dr. Peticolas is an educator and scientist with many years of experience in studying the aurora and in teaching physics to undergraduates, teachers, and the public. She creates high school and junior college lessons, in collaboration with teachers and the E/PO team. She also organizes and teaches at professional development workshops. As the lead E/PO personnel of the THEMIS, ARTEMIS, Wind, and STEREO-IMPACT missions, she leverages efforts from multiple NASA missions that are studying everything from the Sun to auroras.

As an Education/Public Outreach specialist for the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Dawn works in a variety of capacities to make mission specific science and technology accessible to students, teachers and the public. She works with external organizations and formed internal partnerships to facilitate programs; bringing about educational programming, student driven research, mentor opportunities, and reaching traditionally underserved populations. Prior to working for JHU/APL, Dawn was a middle school science teacher for eight years. She has also worked as an education specialist for World Wildlife Fund, a program specialist for The Audubon Society, an educator for Delaware State Parks, and a volunteer coordinator for Chesapeake Bay Girl Scout Council.

Patricia H. Reiff's research focuses on space plasma physics, mostly in the area of magnetospheric physics. Her research includes study of the aurora borealis, solar wind-magnetosphere coupling (including solar wind control of magnetospheric and ionospheric convection), and magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. She is a Co-I on the "IMAGE" magnetospheric imaging mission (launched March, 2000), Jim Burch, SWRI, P.I. She was the first person to propose radio sounding of the magnetosphere, which that spacecraft includes as a key instrument. She is a Co-Investigator on the "Peace" plasma instrument (begun by the late Alan Johnstone of Mullard Space Science Lab) on the ESA "Cluster 2" 4-spacecraft suite which was launched in July and August 2000. She is a Co-Investigator for science and EPO on the "Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission". She is instrumental in bringing real-time WIND data and "Space Weather" information to the public.

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Scott currently coordinates the student internship programs at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He also delivers professional development training and education programs for students and teachers. Over the past fifteen years Scott has worked as a nuclear facility training coordinator, training program designer, and program evaluation specialist. He has taught college courses on training & human performance at both the undergraduate and graduate level. He earned his B.A. in Elementary Education from University of Montana, an M.S. in Instructional Technology from University of Oregon, and his Ph.D. in Organizational Learning from the University of New Mexico.

Dianne Robinson, PhD, is a Science Professor and Director of the Interdisciplinary Science Center (ISC) at Hampton University.  As Director of the ISC, she develops and evaluates science education projects for undergraduates as well as K-12 teachers and students.  The ISC is located within the School of Science, allowing Dr. Robinson access to numerous scientists for collaborations with science educators.  For over 25 years she has partnered with science faculty to develop and implement science courses and professional development workshops for undergraduates and K-12 teachers both nationally and internationally.  For the past five years Dr. Robinson has developed and implemented national professional development workshops for teachers for NASA satellite missions AIM (Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere) and CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) in the study of Earth systems and climate change.  In addition, her most recent efforts have included developing science education programs through NOAA, SCHEV (State Council for Higher Education in VA), NASA, and international programs in Mexico and France. 

I attended the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1962 and received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. My master's degree at the University of Virginia was also in electrical engineering. I earned my Ph.D. in aeronomy at the University of Michigan. I am a professor and co-director at the Center for Atmospheric Sciences.

I study long-term trends, chemistry, dynamics, and transport of trace gases in the middle atmosphere, analyze data to study the properties of Polar Mesospheric clouds, and aid in the development of retrieval algorithms for the SABER experiment. I am the Principal Investigator for the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission which will launch in 2007.

I enjoy being with family, going fishing, and watching football.

Allyson Walker is a program evaluator and human development specialist.  She holds a Doctorate in human development (Harvard University, 1985) and a Master's Degree in educational research and program evaluation (University of Pittsburgh, 1975).  Her undergraduate degree was in mathematics (University of Pittsburgh, 1969).  Having served as the Acting Director of the Division of Research, Evaluation and Test Development for the Pittsburgh Public Schools, she founded Cornerstone Evaluation Associates LLC in the mid-90s. A Pittsburgh-based, client-centered research firm specializing in program evaluation, Cornerstone has expertise in the areas of education, human services, medical education, professional development and training and E/PO for NASA missions as well as conducting museum research and web site usability studies.  Over the past decade, Cornerstone has worked with both NASA/GSFC and the Space Sciences Lab at the University of California/Berkeley, serving as lead evaluator for the E/PO components of the GSFC-led Astro-E2 and the UCB-led THEMIS and WISE Missions.  These projects required the evaluation of web-based information, teacher training efforts and student outcomes.  Cornerstone has also worked as evaluator on a variety of smaller ROSES and ROSS grants for these clients.  In addition, Cornerstone has provided them with evaluative information for re-designing their web-based programs for students (Imagine the Universe! and SEGway), teachers and the general public (SEGway), and professionals in the field (HEASARC).

An avid Legos player as a tomboy, Darlene unwittingly enjoyed the wonders of science as she took apart her mother’s phones and built strange contraptions that lofted G.I.Joes high up in the air. Despite this early affinity for physics, she graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric and a minor in English. Yet Fate was kind enough to return Darlene to her youthful awe of figuring out how things work, and opening her mind and lifelong learning to the fields of astronomy, space weather, and solar physics. Now she works as an Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) specialist at the Center for Science Education, helping to pass space science education to K-12 teachers, their students, and the general public, with much of the same enthusiasm inspired by her childhood toys.