Our Team

LEADERSHIP

Darrell Porcello is the Project Director of SMILE and works at UC Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS). After years of brain research at Stanford, he moved on to science museums to explore how innovative technologies can further the public understanding of science. Working with a team of talented developers at LHS, he has created web sites, exhibits, and curriculum enhancements rich in both science content and interactivity. His favorite SMILE activity is Sound Sandwich, because the best way for kids to learn about vibrations and sound generation is for them to discover how loud they can be with a couple tongue depressors, rubber bands, and bits of straw!

Sherry Hsi is Co-Project Director of SMILE and a Research Director at the Lawrence Hall of Science. She designs and evaluates innovative education technology projects such as mobile inquiry, digital libraries, and interactive new media. She has worked at the Exploratorium for 7 years, and before that, consulted on eLearning projects including building online professional development communities. Sherry has also developed technology-enhanced K-12 curricula and conducted research on gender equity in science. Her favorite SMILE activity is Cup Speaker, because it demystifies how speakers work and shows you how to make them using paper cups, magnets, and some copper wire.

Ken Bell is the SMILE project manager. For the last seven years, he managed curriculum and software development at the Concord Consortium for NSF- funded educational technology research projects. He’s also an e-learning and educational technology consultant at Lesley University. Ken's favorite SMILE activity is Playing with Polymers because he's fascinated by Flubber and loved the movie. Ken's an avid tennis planner and collector of arcane and unusual geographic facts. His somewhat dubious accomplishments include: collecting specimens for the Dirt Museum, attending the 100th birthday of the Fig Newton; and discovering the birthplace of the square bottomed paper bag.

OUTREACH & COMMUNICATIONS

Linda Devillier, Devillier Communications, LLC is in charge of the SMILE National Partnership Program and enlisting the support of SMILE Champions who are experts in their respective fields. Ms. Devillier has more than 35 years of management experience in strategic marketing and communications with a particular expertise in the development of strategic alliances and partnerships. She has supervised public relations campaigns for a diverse array of organizations including The National Science Foundation, National Geographic, Discovery Communications, PBS, Perkins School for the Blind, Lockheed Martin, the Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Education, and the National Space and Aeronautics Administration (NASA).

Keith Braafladt directs the Learning Technology Center at the Science Museum of Minnesota. He is coordinating SMILE’s outreach. Keith has made art since he was a little boy and has been interested in the connection between art and science for just as long. His (current) favorite SMILE activity is the Waterbottle Membranophone because it’s a tool as well as a musical instrument and it encourages learners to collaborate!

Cassandra Byrd has a background in molecular biology and middle school science education. She designs the curriculum for and teaches the Homeschool Family Science Program at the Exploratorium. She helps with SMILE outreach events, contributes to the SMILE library, and assists in reviewing and vetting the SMILE metadata and collection. Her favorite SMILE activity is the Jitterbug because it's a simple circuit that creates hours of entertainment!

Margaret Glass is at the Association of Science-Technology Centers, and works with the SMILE outreach team. She also collaborates on other national informal science education projects in subjects ranging from astronomy to nanotechnology. She was previously content developer for programs and exhibits at the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix. Her favorite SMILE activity is The Mysteries of Catalhoyuk because it reminds her of her first life as an archaeologist.

Preeti Gupta is Senior Vice President for Education and Family Programs at the New York Hall of Science. She has worked at the New York Hall of Science for approximately twenty years, starting her career as a high school Explainer, a paid floor facilitator. The Explainer program continues to thrive under her direction and has garnered interest internationally from science centers. Her favorite SMILE activity is Moon Balls because this activity helps demonstrate the phases of the moon and rising and setting times. Because of this activity, she considers herself a moon expert.

Asia Ward is SMILE's Outreach Coordinator. She helps spread the word about this amazing resource, and contributes activities to its library. She is the Learning Technologies Center Coordinator and Resident Artist at the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM). As Resident Artist she designs and develops informal art/science/technology/design activities; as Coordinator she places these new activities in the SMM's informal education curriculum. As a kinetic sculpture artist she has shown her work nationally and has been a resident artist for major museums, art centers, and universities. She likes the Audio Tape Bow activity because you get to turn a tape player into a sci-fi violin!

COLLECTIONS / EDITORIAL / METADATA / CATALOGING

Joel Rosenberg is the Technical Product manager for SMILE. He has been a classroom teacher (11th grade chemistry), a curriculum developer (high school engineering), an education researcher (in Karlsruhe, Germany), a museum presenter (nanotechnology at the Museum of Science, Boston), and a toy designer (Intel and the MIT Media Lab). Joel's current favorite SMILE activity is Sound Sandwich -- a versatile instrument that costs only a few cents and can be done in a few minutes.

Erin Van Rheenen works at the Exploratorium and is SMILE’s Communications and Community Manager. She helps implement SMILE's communications and outreach plans, maintaining a consistent message of project vision and goals across all media. She develops communication vehicles for keeping community constituencies informed about SMILE activities and accomplishments, including a monthly email newsletter, email announcements and surveys, social media updates in venues such as Facebook, and blog posts to NSDL's Expert Voices. Erin has lived a variety of professional lives, from teaching English at CUNY New York to writing travel books. Her favorite SMILE activity is Bighorn Adventure: Field Trip in Canyonlands National Park, Utah, because she likes the idea of learning so far outside of the classroom that you need to bring along a compass.

Tara Lang is an Educator at the Children’s Museum of Houston. She manages Kidtropolis, a hands-on exhibit where kids experience what it means to live, work, and play in a city. Her SMILE work has included uploading and editing activities for the catalog. Her favorite SMILE activity is Cup Stackers because it provides endless fun and challenge with nothing more than a bunch of cups and a pair of dice.

Lauren Lindskog is the Learning Commons Program Coordinator at the Exploratorium, where she helps teachers and museum educators find great resources and activities. As the SMILE lead cataloger and editor, she contributes some of those great resources to the digital library. Her favorite SMILE activity is Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Gluten!, partially because she likes alliteration, but mostly because she loves getting her hands dirty in the kitchen.

Cheryl McCallum is one of the two SMILE staffers from the Children's Museum of Houston where she serves as Director of Education. She has been studying instructional technologies for years and sees the Children’s Museum’s SMILE involvement as an opportunity to continue the Museum’s efforts to provide quality online activity ideas for families and teachers. Her role in the SMILE project has been to help Tara Lang identify the Museum’s resources especially early elementary and bi-lingual activities. Cheryl’s favorite SMILE activity (at the moment) is Kosher Dill Current because she’s never done it and would like to try it out with kids.

Rebecca Reitz is the Librarian at the New York Hall of Science. She loves matching resources and information seekers. Her SMILE work has included conducting early surveys and entering and editing activities. Her favorite SMILE activity is Spaghetti Bridge because it combines creativity and science (and pasta!).

Deborah Rose is a science writer at the Lawrence Hall of Science, where she has helped develop, write and edit such groundbreaking exhibits as the NanoZone and Forces That Shape the Bay, online activities for the LHS Kids web site, and LHS Newspapers in Education series including Engineer It!, Big Dinos/Cool Tools, Bodywork, and Wild Music. Before joining the LHS staff, she reported on news from LHS and cutting-edge UC Berkeley research as a Senior Public Information Representative in the campus News and Public Affairs Office. She is also the author of eleven children's books. Her favorite SMILE activity is Otter Smorgasbord from the WONDERWISE Sea Otter Biologist Activity Book because she loves watching otters in the wild off the Monterey coast.

Stephen Uzzo has a diverse background in music, media, education, environmentalism, archaeology, art and computer graphics. In addition to helping SMILE on various fronts, he works for the New York Hall of Science in development of exhibitions on communicating complex science including the exhibition on complex networks: Connections: The Nature of Networks. Dr. Uzzo also teaches for the NYIT Graduate School of Education, and has presented and organized at numerous conferences.

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT / DESIGN

Dan Bluestein works on SMILE's website and database. Before joining the computer programming world and coming to the Lawrence Hall of Science he was, among other things, a molecular biology lab tech. Dan's current favorite SMILE activity is Mold Terrarium: Watch What Grows on Leftover Food because its similarities to his refrigerator help bridge the gap between science in the classroom and in the real-world.

Chris Linden is a graphic designer at the Lawrence Hall of Science. He designed the logo, identity, and look and feel of the SMILE web site. He comes from the Midwest where he honed his design and graphics skills at the branding agency, Fitting Group. He splits his free time between coaching and playing ice hockey, and reading design books, magazines, and blogs. His favorite SMILE activity is Mysteries of Catalhoyuk: Mural Activity because he likes any activity that helps you paint outside of the lines.

Roger Vang is a programmer at the Lawrence Hall of Science. His main focus on the SMILE website was to implement the site around the Drupal content management system and code the front-end display and user interfaces. He has a varied background studying in cognitive science, computer science, and geography. He spends most of his spare time with his family and on tech gadget sites. His favorite SMILE activity is Weave a Pattern because it demonstrates how complex patterns and designs can arise from simply overlapping strings.

EVALUATION

Douglas Spencer helps SMILE with audience testing and interface design. He evaluates education in new technology for large foundations, advises universities on fundraising, and goes mountain biking and kayaking every chance he gets. Before SMILE he was a doctoral researcher in Education at Cornell. He lived, worked and studied tropical agriculture with Mayan farmers in Mexico and Belize. His favorite SMILE activity is Breaking the Mayan Code because…it’s Mayan.

Scott Randol is an evaluator on the SMILE project. He has been involved in the study, evaluation and practice of education in informal environments for over twelve years. He received his PhD in Science Education from the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in the study of inquiry and learning in informal environments. Scott’s research interests include inquiry in informal settings, the impacts of mediated experiences on visitors, and innovative methods for assessing the visitor experience. His favorite SMILE activity is Clay Float: Exploring Archimedes’ Principle because it taps into people’s curiosity and creativity while helping them explore density.