2008 Festival Participants

Jad Abumrad is an award-winning radio journalist who has produced documentaries for a variety of local and national public radio programs including, On the Media, PRI's Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and WNYC's 24 Hours at the Edge of Ground Zero. He is co-host with Robert Krulwich on WNYC’s popular show Radio Lab. read more

Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete is a Roman Catholic priest, theologian, physicist and author. A frequent contributor to The New York Times, he is one of the leaders in the United States for the international Catholic movement Communion and Liberation and is on the Board of Advisors of the Crossroads Cultural Center.
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David Albert is the Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University. Prof. Albert is world renowned for his insights into philosophical questions about the nature of time. read more

Alan Alda, a six-time Emmy Award–winner, played Hawkeye Pierce on the classic television series, M*A*S*H, and, more recently, appeared in continuing roles on ER and The West Wing. Altogether, he has been nominated for the Emmy 32 times - as actor, writer, and director. In 1994, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. read more

Theoretical physicist Stephon Alexander explores unresolved questions about the early universe. Also an accomplished jazz musician, Alexander has collaborated with Grammy Award-winning musician Will Calhoun as well as Ronnie Burrage, Brian Eno and Jaron Lanier. He is an assistant professor of physics, astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State University and a National Geographic Emerging Explorer. read more

Neuroscientist Nancy C. Andreasen is well known for her pioneering work using MRI imaging to explore mental illness and the neural bases for artistic creativity and innovation. She is the author of several books including The Creating Brain: The Neuroscience of Genius and is both the Andrew H. read more

Misha Angrist is a 43-year-old male who is near-sighted and has a family history of heart disease. He has 23 pairs of chromosomes, a wife, and two children. read more

George Annas is the author or editor of seventeen books on health law and bioethics and is cofounder of Global Lawyers and Physicians, an organization that promotes human rights and health. He is the Edward R. Utley Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Law, Bioethics & Human Rights of Boston University School of Public Health. read more

Paula S. Apsell heads the flagship PBS science series, NOVA, now in its 35th year.  Under Apsell’s leadership, NOVA has won every major broadcast award and is the most popular science series on television. In 2005, Apsell introduced NOVA scienceNOW, a critically acclaimed science newsmagazine dedicated to covering the latest developments in science and technology. read more

Dan Ariely studies people’s irrational behavior in the marketplace. He is the founder of the Center for Advanced Hindsight, author of the book Predictably Irrational, and the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Behavioral Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. read more

Karole Armitage is a dancer and choreographer widely known for combining disparate styles and themes with the discipline and techniques of classical ballet. She is the artistic director of Armitage Gone! Dance, a company based in New York City. read more

Nina Azari specializes in cognitive neuroscience and the psychology of religion. She uses traditional psychological methods as well as cutting-edge medical imaging technology to explore religious experiences, consciousness, belief and perception in her subjects. Azari is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. read more

Mia Barron is a theater, film and television actress. Her stage credits include Springtime for Henry and Heartbreak House, She Stoops to Comedy and Hedda Gabler. She was recently in 27 Dresses with Katherine Heigl, and also has a recurring role as the voice of Molotov in the cartoon network’s The Venture Brothers. read more

As the son of a Vermont farmer, Eben Bayer has an acute sense of the stakes in the race for environmentally sustainable technologies. Bayer is a cofounder of Ecovative Design, the Oxford International Business Plan Competition-winning green startup, where he is developing sustainable building materials and packaging products. read more

Arthur Benjamin is a professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. A professional magician, Benjamin can also multiply large numbers faster than a calculator, figure out the week day of any date in history and has memorized the decimal numbers of pi out to 100 digits. He is the author of several books, including Secrets of Mental Math. read more

Steven Benner is one of the pioneers of synthetic biology, which seeks to create artificial living systems. He is a Distinguished Fellow at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Florida and a founder of the Westheimer Institute for Science. read more

Journalist Bill Blakemore has been with ABC News since 1970. He was ABC's Vatican correspondent throughout the papacy of John Paul II, and was ABC's Rome Bureau Chief for six years. Blakemore has covered major events worldwide including 12 wars and conflict zones. He currently spearheads ABC News‚ coverage of global warming and climate change. read more

Paul Bloom's research explores how children and adults understand the physical and social world, with special focus on morality, religion, fiction, and art. A professor of psychology at Yale University, Bloom has written for scientific journals such as Nature and Science, but also for publications with more general circulation, such as The New York Times, the Guardian, and the Atlantic. read more

Cynthia Breazeal is an associate professor of media arts and sciences and the director of the personal robots group at the Media Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. She is an expert on the interaction between people and sociable robots. read more

Blaine Brownell is an architect, sustainable building advisor, and a researcher of innovative materials for design and construction. From self-cleaning paint to transparent ceramics and biological plastics, he has described these and hundreds of other revolutionary products in his two-volume book Transmaterial: A Catalogue of Materials that Redefine our Physical Environment. New developments and discoveries are reported on a website of the same name. As the founder and director of the design/research firm Transstudio, he aims to promote awareness, provide resources and stimulate creative thinking about ecologically-sensitive building and design. He also is the Visiting Professor in Sustainability at the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. read more

Kate Burton is a Tony and Emmy Award-nominated actress. Currently on Broadway in the hit musical Spring Awakening, her other stage and screen credits include Hedda Gabler, The Elephant Man, The First Wives Club and The Ice Storm. Her television work includes recurring roles on The West Wing and Grey’s Anatomy. read more

Robert Butler is a pioneer in gerontology — the study of aging and its biological, psychological, and social implications. His book, Why Survive? Being Old in America, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1976. Butler is director and CEO of the U.S. branch of the International Longevity Center in New York City. read more

The Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III, is Pastor of the nationally-renowned Abyssinian Baptist Church and President of SUNY College at Old Westbury. Under his leadership, the Church leads crucial community development and social justice initiatives in Harlem. He is a founder and current Chairman of the Abyssinian Development Corporation and was instrumental in establishing the first new high school in Harlem in 50 years. read more

Majora Carter is a green economic consultant who combines social, economic development, and region wide infrastructure needs into positive feedback systems. She has been a driving force behind some of NYC's most progressive environmental legislation, as well as cultural acceptance of sustainable practices. read more

Neuroethicist Patricia Churchland explores the complex philosophical and ethical impact that the rapidly expanding field of neuroscience has on society. She is the President's Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego, and an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla. read more

Francis Collins is widely know for his landmark discoveries of disease genes and leadership of the Human Genome Project, an international project that culminated in April 2003 with the completion of a finished sequence of the human DNA instruction book. Known for his consistent emphasis on the importance of ethical and legal issues in genetics, Collins leads the effort to ensure that this new trove of sequence data would be translated into tools for the advancement of biological knowledge and improvement of human health. read more

Brian Cox is a physicist and BBC television and radio presenter who appears in programs such as In Einstein’s Shadow, Bitesize and Horizon. read more

Tom Crawford has been helping athletes, executives and teams across the U.S. perform at their highest levels for over 20 years — from youth programs to Major League Baseball, the National Football League and the National Basketball association; from amateurs to "Top-10" professional tennis players. read more

Antonio Damasio is a leading neuroscientist and neurologist. He is the David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience and Director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, and also an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. Damasio has made seminal contributions to the understanding of how the brain processes memory, language, emotions, and decisions and has described his discoveries in best selling books (Descartes’ Error, The Feeling of What Happens, and Looking for Spinoza) translated into over 30 languages and taught in universities worldwide. read more

Gordon Davidson is a Tony Award-winning theater director. He was artistic director of the renowned Center Theater Group in Los Angeles for more than thirty years. His credits include Broadway productions of Children of a Lesser God and The Shadow Box. read more

Paul Davies is Director of the BEYOND Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science at Arizona State University and the co-Director of the ASU Cosmology Initiative. His research interests range from the origin of the universe to the origin of life. read more

Eric DeCamps is the personification of a magician. Every one of his performances is filled with compelling stories and visual artistry, and at every turn he performs the seemingly impossible.  

DeCamps has been a serious student of the art of magic for over 30 years. Fortune 500 companies such as Time Warner, Merrill Lynch, General Motors, Bear Sterns, American Express and many others have engaged him to entertain their most valued clients. read more

Daniel Dennett is a philosopher who studies mind and consciousness through the lens of evolutionary biology and cognitive science. Author of several bestselling books including Darwin’s Dangerous Idea and Consciousness Explained, he is the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. read more

In the emerging field of medical ecology, Dickson Despommier is a trailblazer, devising solutions to problems in agriculture and public health that likely will be magnified by climate change. A microbiologist, he is a Professor of Public Health at Columbia University's Mailman School, where he developed the idea of growing food in urban farm skyscrapers. read more

Peter Diaczuk is a leading authority in forensics and an expert witness on firearms, trace evidence, and crime scene reconstruction. He has performed research on topics as diverse as underwater fingerprints, blood spatter patterns from gunshot wounds, and bullets ricochetting from different surfaces. He is Director of Forensic Science Training at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. read more

Josh Dorfman is an environmental entrepreneur, green-living advisor, media personality and author. His book, The Lazy Environmentalist: Your Guide to Easy, Stylish, Green Living, reflects the theme he brings to audiences nationwide: that individuals can make a powerful, positive impact on the environment by the consumer choices they make - and that they can do so without personal sacrifice. read more

David Eagleman studies the human perception of time as well as synesthesia, a condition in which stimulation to one sense triggers an involuntary response in others. A psychologist and biomedical engineer, he is Director of the Laboratory for Perception and Action and an assistant professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine. read more

The National Geographic Society's explorer-in-residence since 1998, Sylvia Earle tirelessly works for the preservation and exploration of the world's marine ecosystems. She has led more than 50 expeditions and spent more than 6,500 hours of her life underwater. read more

Nathan Englander's story collection, For the Relief of Unbearable Urges became an international bestseller, earning him both the PEN/Faulkner Malamud Award and the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2000. His first novel, The Ministry of Special Cases, was published in Spring 2007. read more

Physician and geneticist James Evans uses family history and genetic testing to evaluate and counsel patients about their risk for cancer. His research explores how genetics influences an individual’s response to medication. He is a professor of medicine and the director of Clinical Cancer Genetics and The Bryson Program in Human Genetics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. read more

Mark Oliver Everett is the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist, and creative force behind the independent rock band, Eels. He is the son of Hugh Everett III, the physicist who proposed the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. read more

Ira Flatow is an award-winning radio and television journalist, who has been interviewing top scientists and researchers for over thirty-five years. He is the host of National Public Radio’s Science Friday and is the author of several acclaimed science books. read more

Alan Friedman is a consultant in the areas of museum development and science communication. He has consulted for over sixty institutions around the world. From 1984 to 2006, Friedman was the Director and CEO of the New York Hall of Science. He is co-author of the book, Einstein as Myth and Muse. read more

Peter Galison is a leading historian of science whose research explores the interaction of experimentation, instrumentation and theory in physics. An author, film producer and MacArthur Award-winner, he is the Joseph Pellegrino University Professor in the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University. read more

Sylvester James (Jim) Gates, Jr. is currently the John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland-College Park. In spring of 2009 he was appointed to serve on President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and the Maryland State Board of Education. read more

A plant biologist and virologist by training, Robert Goodman is a world authority on soil microorganisms and plant disease. His recent research explores the diversity of microorganisms in soil, and their resistance to cultivation. read more

Brian Greene is a Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Columbia University, and is recognized for a number of groundbreaking discoveries in his field of superstring theory. read more

Saul Griffith is the President and Chief Scientist at Makani Power, a company that is seeking to harness clean energy from high-altitude wind. He is a 2007 MacArthur Award-winning inventor, entrepreneur and writer. read more

Heidi Hammel is a noted planetary scientist. Currently, she is senior research scientist and codirector of research at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge and the University of Hawaii, she spent nearly nine years as the principal research scientist in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at MIT. read more

Combining elements of computer science, anthropology, visual art and storytelling, Jonathan Harris (b. 1979) designs systems to explore and explain the human world. read more

A managing partner at the consulting firm, Haseltine Partners, Eric Haseltine is a neuroscientist who has applied new discoveries about the human brain in fields as diverse as aerospace technology, virtual reality, special effects, journalism, entertainment and, most recently, national security and intelligence. read more

Marc Hauser is an evolutionary biologist and psychologist, and the author of Moral Minds: How Nature Designed Our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong. He is the director of the Cognitive Evolution Laboratory and the co-director of the Mind, Brain, and Behavior Program, both at Harvard University. read more

Lucy Hawking is a journalist, and the author of several novels. With her father, the physicist Stephen Hawking, she has written George's Secret Key to the Universe, a children's adventure featuring the mysteries of physics, science and the Universe. read more

Peter Head is a civil and structural engineer who has become a major proponent and practitioner of sustainable urban design. He applies "biomimetics" — an engineering approach that looks to systems in nature to design efficient structures and systems in the manmade world that produce little if any waste. read more

John Hockenberry is an award-winning journalist with twenty-five years experience in radio, broadcast television and print. He is co-host of WNYC and PRI's The Takeaway, host on The DNA Files, and a contributor to The Infinite Mind. read more

Physicist Pierre C. Hohenberg is interested in questions about the structure of matter under extreme conditions. A recipient of the Max Planck Medal of the German Physical Society and the Lars Onsager Prize of the American Physical Society, Hohenberg is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and is Senior Vice Provost for Research at NYU. Image: © Getty Images read more

Walter Isaacson is the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute. He has been the Chairman and CEO of CNN and the editor of Time Magazine. He is the author of Einstein: His Life and Universe, as well as biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Henry Kissinger. read more

Shirley Ann Jackson is President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She served as Chairman of the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission under the Clinton Administration and presently sits on President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. read more

As lead innovator of "One Laptop Per Child", Mary Lou Jepsen created the world's most inexpensive, low-power laptop, enabling its distribution to children in developing countries. Her company, Pixel Qi aims to revolutionize the electronics industry with a new generation of screens. In May 2008 Time Magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. read more

Mitchell Joachim is on the faculty at Columbia University and Parsons School of Design. He is a partner in Terrefuge, a New York-based organization for philanthropic architecture and ecological design. His design of a compact, stackable “city car,” developed with the MIT Smart Cities Group, won the 2007 Time Magazine “Best Invention of the Year.” read more

Bill T. Jones, a Tony Award-winning choreographer and dancer, has changed the face of American dance. He has infused issues of identity, form and social commentary into hundreds of award winning shows worldwide. Jones is the artistic director and co-founder of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in New York City. read more

Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist and the Henry Semat Professor at the City College of New York and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he has taught for more than 30 years. He is a graduate of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and earned his doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley. read more

Sandra Kaufmann choreographs for concert dance, video, musical and theatrical productions. She has taught throughout the US and abroad and has served on the faculty of Barnard College, NYU, University of Chicago and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. Currently Sandra is the Director of Dance at Loyola University Chicago. read more

A leading thinker on geoengineering and a prize-winning physicist, David Keith works at the interface between climate science, energy technology and public policy. He is particularly interested in finding viable ways to capture and store CO₂ including the direct capture of CO₂ from the atmosphere. read more

Plant physiologist and inventor M. Glen Kertz has been a global leader in the fields of molecular genetics, plant tissue and cell culture for over 35 years. He is president and director of research and development for Valcent Products Inc., a company aiming to bring to market algae-to-biofuel technology. read more

Helge Kragh is a leading science historian whose research focuses on the history of cosmology. He is the author of several books including, Cosmology and Controversy and Conceptions of the Cosmos. Kragh is a professor in the History of Science Department at the University of Aarhus in Denmark. read more

Bernie Krause is a bioacoustician — an expert on the sounds of nature — who has traveled the world recording and archiving the sounds of endangered creatures and environments. He is President and CEO of Wild Sanctuary, Inc., one of the world’s largest archives of natural sounds. read more

Lawrence Krauss is Foundation Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and Director of the Origins Initiative at Arizona State University. He is an internationally known theoretical physicist, winner of numerous international awards for his research accomplishments, and is also an acclaimed science writer. read more

Robert Krulwich is an award-winning radio and television journalist who has been called ‘the most inventive network reporter in television’ by TV Guide. He is an ABC News correspondent, NPR science correspondent, and co-host of WNYC's science documentary program, Radio Lab. read more

Steven Kurtz is co-founder of the multi award-winning art and theater collective, Critical Art Ensemble, an organization that performs and exhibits art about information, communications, and bio-technologies. He is also a Professor of Visual Studies at SUNY at Buffalo. read more

Ray Kurzweil is an inventor, entrepreneur, and futurist. In several books for a general audience he has laid out his vision of a merger of man and machine that he contends will shape the future of humankind. read more

Anthony LaPaglia is the Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor currently starring as FBI Missing Persons investigator Jack Malone in CBS's popular television crime drama, "Without a Trace." LaPaglia has appeared in a number of films, including "Summer of Sam," "Sweet and Lowdown," "The House of Mirth," and "Lantana." He also starred alongside Sigourney Weaver in "The Guys," a film inspired by the heroism of New York City firefighters during the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. read more

Paleontologist Richard Leakey’s discoveries have helped shape our understanding of human origins. He is a committed conservationist and staunch advocate for the protection of Kenyan wildlife. A former director of Kenya’s Wildlife Service, he is the author of several books including The Sixth Extinction. read more

Leon Lederman is the Pritzker Professor of Science at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, and the Director Emeritus of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1988. He is the author of several books, including The God Particle, and Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe. read more

Jonah Lehrer is an editor-at-large for Seed Magazine and has written articles for Nature, New Scientist, and the MIT Technology Review. A neuroscientist by training, he is also the author of Proust was a Neuroscientist. read more

Emergency physician and avid outdoorsman, Jay Lemery is an authority on the effects of wilderness exposure on the human body. He is known for research on treatments for conditions resulting from high altitude climbing, natural and environmental disasters, and the exposure to other extreme environments. He is an assistant professor and the director of wilderness and environmental medicine at Weill-Cornell Medical College as well as an assistant professor at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. read more

Janna Levin is a physicist and award-winning author. Her research explores the limits of mathematics and whether this will prevent us from ever finding a theory of everything. In 2007, she won a PEN/Bingham Fellowship for her novel A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines. Levin is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. read more

Lukas Ligeti is a composer whose works combine downtown New York experimentalism with contemporary classical music, jazz, electronica, and world music. read more

Alan Lightman's novel Einstein's Dreams was an international bestseller and has been translated into thirty languages. Both a distinguished physicist and an accomplished novelist, Lightman was the first professor at MIT to receive a joint appointment in the sciences and the humanities. read more

Doug Liman is an American film director and producer, whose credits include The Bourne Identity (2002), The Bourne Supremacy (2004), and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). read more

Marilyn Maye is an award-winning, renowned jazz singer who has been named an Official Jazz Legend by the American Jazz Museum. She has been onstage with many of the greatest jazz performers, including Count Basie, Charlie "Bird" Parker, and Big Joe Turner. read more

A cofounder of Ecovative Design, Gavin McIntyre is an avid backpacker with an intense interest in preserving the natural world. Under McIntyre's direction, Ecovative garnered a grant from the New York State Energy and Development Authority to fund the testing of its flagship product, Greensulate™ organic insulation. read more

Christopher McKay is a research scientist with the NASA Ames Research Center. His current research focuses on the evolution of the solar system and the origin of life. He is also actively involved in planning for future Mars missions including human exploration. read more

Jon Meacham is the managing editor of Newsweek magazine, a bestselling author, and a commentator on politics, history, and faith in America. His books include Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship and American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. read more

Marvin Minsky is one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence and had made numerous contributions to the fields of AI, cognitive science, mathematics and robotics. His current work focuses on trying to imbue machines with a capacity for common sense. Minsky is a professor at MIT, where he co-founded the artificial intelligence lab. read more

Chemist Dan Nocera is developing ways to derive clean renewable solar energy by replicating basic chemical reactions similar to those used by plants in the process of photosynthesis. A vocal advocate of solar power, he is the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy and a professor of chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. read more

Paul Nurse is a Nobel Laureate and the President of Rockefeller University, where he continues to do research in cell biology. He is the former Chief Executive of Cancer Research, UK. In 1999 he was knighted in Great Britain for his contributions to cancer research. read more

Physicist Lyman Page measures and observes cosmic radiation left over from the Big Bang to better understand the very early universe and how it has since evolved. He is the Henry DeWolf Smyth Professor of Physics at Princeton University.     read more

MTV News correspondent SuChin Pak, began her television career as host of the PBS Science program Newton's Apple. She has hosted the MTV Video Music Awards, the Movie Awards, and the documentary series My Life Translated. She will host The G-Word on Discovery’s forthcoming eco-lifestyle network, Planet Green. read more

Nobel Prize-winning physicist William Phillips is a professor at the University of Maryland and leads the Laser Cooling and Trapping Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. His research on manipulating atoms with laser light has led to more accurate atomic clocks and a more fundamental understanding of light-matter interactions. read more

Tim Chang, Michael Kaplan, Rachel “Roxy” Lachhman, Rosa Pena, Paula Santos-Shevett, and Dennis Wynn are New York City high school students with a passion for science. read more

Ellen Prager is a marine biologist, author and chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Aquarius Undersea Laboratory in Key Largo, Florida. She is the Chairman of the Ocean Research and Resources Advisory Panel for the federal government and an author of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy's 2004 report to Congress and the President. read more

Peter Pringle is author of The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov and co-author of nine previous books. His book, Food Inc., traced the history of biotech agriculture. The former Moscow bureau chief for The Independent, he has also written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The New Republic and The Nation. read more

V.S. Ramachandran investigates the nature of self and human consciousness. His work spans the causes and effects of synesthesia and phantom limb pain to questions about visual perception and the brain. He is Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego. read more

Reijo Pera is a professor and the Director of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Education Center at Stanford University. Her research is aimed at understanding the developmental genetics of human germ cell formation and differentiation.  Her early work resulted in identification of one of the first genes specifically implicated in human germ cell development. Subsequently her laboratory has established techniques for differentiation of human embryonic stem cells to germ cells and genetic manipulation of the pathways.  read more

A reporter for the New York Times, Andrew C. Revkin is one of America's most honored science writers. He has spent a quarter century providing ground-breaking coverage of subjects ranging from the Asian tsunami to the assault on the Amazon, from the politics of climate to science at the North Pole. He has been an environment reporter for The New York Times since 1995. read more

Matthew Ritchie is a painter, sculptor and digital artist. His work combines science, architecture, history, and the dynamics of culture to explore the idea of information, and is featured in the collections of numerous institutions, including MoMA and the Guggenheim Museum. In 2001, Time Magazine listed him as one of its 100 innovators for the new millenium. read more

Sociologist Nikolas Rose is interested in how genomics affects personal identity and the social and legal ramifications of studying the human genome. He is the James Martin White Professor of Sociology and the Director of the BIOS Centre for the Study of Bioscience, Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Society at the London School of Economics. read more

Emmy award winning journalist Charlie Rose has been praised as "one of America's premiere interviewers." He is the host of Charlie Rose, the nightly PBS program that engages America's preeminent thinkers, writers, politicians, athletes, entertainers, business leaders, scientists and other newsmakers. read more

F. Sherwood Rowland studies the Earth's atmosphere in remote locations from Alaska to New Zealand, in highly polluted cities, and in areas with special conditions such as burning forests. He is best known for the discovery that chlorofluorocarbons contribute to ozone depletion, which earned him the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He is the Bren Research Professor in Chemistry and Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine. read more

Vera C. Rubin is an observational astronomer who has studied the motions of gas and stars in galaxies and motions of galaxies in the universe for 75 percent of her life. Her work was influential in discovering that most of the matter in the universe is dark — it does not emit or absorb any light, and it does not interact with ordinary matter (which is made of atoms) except via gravity. read more

Neurologist Oliver Sacks has spent a lifetime exploring a vast array of human experience – from Tourette's syndrome and autism to phantom limb syndrome and schizophrenia. His many best-selling books include Uncle Tungsten, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and Awakenings, which became an acclaimed film. Sacks is a professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and a Columbia University Artist. His writings appear regularly in The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books. read more

Faith Salie hosted NPR’s Fair Game from PRI with Faith Salie and hosts Sundance Channel’s coverage of the Sundance Film Festival. She is a monthly contributor to O, the Oprah Magazine and has appeared as a commentator on The Oprah Winfrey Show as well as CNN and Fox News. As an actor and comedian, she has appeared in numerous sitcoms and dramas—from Bravo’s Significant Others to Sex and the City. She earned her sci-fi cred in a recurring role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. read more

Laurie Santos is a cognitive psychologist who studies monkeys' capacity for learning and the evolution of the human mind. She is an Associate Professor of Psychology and director of the Comparative Cognition Laboratory at Yale University, and was named one of Popular Science Magazine's "Brilliant 10" for 2007. read more

James Schamus is CEO of Focus Features, and an associate professor at Columbia University’s School of the Arts in New York City, where he teaches film history and theory. read more

Ben Schwegler is Walt Disney Imagineering R&D’s chief scientist, and is particularly interested in the development of sustainable engineering techniques. He was instrumental in the creation of the most energy efficient theme park ever built as well as a new generation of environmentally friendly fireworks. read more

Sam Shepard is an Oscar-nominated actor, screenwriter, director, and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. His best-known works include Buried Child, Curse of the Starving Class, and True West. He has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1986, and his plays are performed on and off Broadway, and in regional theaters across America. read more

David Sinclair’s research focuses upon the search for genes and small molecules capable of slowing the pace of aging in cells and on preventing diseases associated with old age. He is an associate professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and an associate member of the Harvard-MIT Broad Institute for Bioinformatics. read more

Experimental particle physicist Maria Spiropulu is searching for physical evidence of exotic elementary particles and hidden extra dimensions that are predicted by theoretical physics. A research physicist at CERN, she works on the Large Hadron Collider. read more

Paul Steinhardt is a theoretical physicist and one of the architects of the "inflationary model" which says the universe began a rapid, accelerated expansion shortly after the Big Bang. He is the Albert Einstein Professor of Science and professor of theoretical physics at Princeton University. read more

Daniel Sullivan is one of New York’s most prolific directors. He most recently directed the Broadway revival of The Homecoming. He has been nominated for six Tony Awards for Direction of a Play, and won for David Auburn’s Proof in 2001. read more

Theoretical physicist Leonard Susskind is one of the discoverers of string theory, a candidate for a theory that unifies all laws of physics. An award-winning author, he is a proponent of the idea that our universe is one of an infinite number. Susskind is the Felix Bloch Professor of Theoretical Physics at Stanford University. read more

Computer scientist Latanya Sweeney is interested in the intersection between technology and policy. She has had a major impact on the health care industry and on the creation of systems and legislation that insure patients' privacy rights. She is Director of the Data Privacy Lab and an assistant professor of computer science, technology, and policy at Carnegie Mellon University. read more

Julia Sweeney is an actress and comedian who has been part of the cast of Saturday Night Live and has appeared in feature films such as Pulp Fiction and Clockstoppers. Most recently, she has come to wider attention with her autobiographical monologue, Letting go of God. read more

Ian Tattersall is a prominent anthropologist whose work focuses on the evolution of humans and other primates. He is a curator for the division of anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and an adjunct professor at Columbia University and the City University of New York. read more

Betsy Taylor is the president of the board of directors of the non-profit organization 1Sky, founded in 2007 to mobilize a grass-roots campaign demanding federal action to reverse climate change. She has spent more than 20 years leading efforts to organize, fund and advise groups devoted to promoting energy conservation and community building. read more

Max Tegmark is a leading cosmologist and an ardent proponent of the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. He is a professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. read more

Eugene Thacker is the author of several books and articles that combine philosophy, science and technology, including: Biomedia, The Global Genome, and The Exploit: A Theory of Networks which he co-authored with Alexander Galloway. He has collaborated with art collectives Biotech Hobbyist and the Radical Software Group. read more

The Inspirational Voices of Abyssinian Baptist Church is the resident choir of one of the most prominent African-American institutions in America. Under the leadership of its pastor, the Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III, the Abyssinian Baptist Church has followed the African-American church tradition of actively building communities, and remains a champion of spiritual empowerment, social justice and reform. read more

David Thoreson is an adventurer, photographer and sailor who has bicycled 10,000 miles around North America; sailed 36,000 miles around the planet; and crossed the Atlantic three times by sail. In the summer of 2007, he completed the Northwest Passage, where he filmed a documentary about the effects of climate change. read more

Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Giulio Tononi is a world authority on the neurology of sleep and has spent much of his scientific career exploring the biological basis for consciousness. A professor of psychiatry and the Distinguished Chair in Consciousness Science at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, Tononi explores connections between consciousness and personality through the lens of art and philosophy. read more

A leading authority on landscape management and plant conservation, Edward Toth is Director of the Greenbelt Native Plant Center, which collects and raises specimens of New York's indigenous flora and maintains a seed bank for preservation of local species. He has written extensively on ecological management of urban natural areas. read more

Margaret Turnbull leads the science team of the NASA New Worlds Observer mission looking for Earth-like planets and signs of alien life. She is an astrobiologist at the Global Science Institute in Wisconsin. read more

Michael Turner is the Bruce V. and Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. He is a theoretical cosmologist who coined the term, “dark energy.” He has made seminal contributions to the understanding of inflationary cosmology, particle dark matter, and the theory of the Big Bang. read more

Harold Varmus, president of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, received the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with Michael Bishop, his former colleague at the University of California, San Francisco, for their discovery of cellular genes that are progenitors of retroviral oncogenes. read more

Richard Weindruch has devoted decades to exploring extreme low-calorie diets and their promise in delaying aging. He is a professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin, and the director and co-founder of LifeGen Technologies. He is also a scientist with the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. read more

Bill Weir is the Emmy award-winning co-anchor of the weekend edition of Good Morning America. His reporting is seen onWorld News with Charles Gibson, Nightline and 20/20. He has covered major events all over the world including a 2007 Earth Day special with unprecedented underwater reporting from the Great Barrier Reef. read more

After graduation from Oxford in 1964, Michael York joined the National Theatre company, making his film debut in The Taming of the Shrew. His more than 60 other screen credits include Romeo and Juliet, Cabaret, Jesus of Nazareth, The Three Musketeers, Logan’s Run, Murder on the Orient Express, Conduct Unbecoming, The Omega Code and all three Austin Powers movies. read more

Award-winning science writer Carl Zimmer explores the frontiers of biology in his writing. His work appears regularly in the New York Times and many magazines. He is the author, most recently, of Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life. In 2007 he was awarded the National Academies' Science Communication Award. read more