Advisory Panel

Janine Castro, Ph.D., R.G., is a geomorphologist for both the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service in Portland, Ore., where she facilitates communication between and amongst scientists, engineers, policymakers, and the public. She is a founding member of River Restoration Northwest, a non-profit that seeks to improve communication between restoration and science practitioners, and is the Technical Director of the Portland State University River Restoration Professional Certificate Program. Janine regularly teaches public speaking workshops and maintains a Science Communication page on the Fish and Wildlife Service webpage. Janine was a founding member of Science Talk (now ASC).

Lauren Moreno, is an associate with Catalysis LLC. Lauren enjoys guiding collaborative teams to envision and implement strategic projects and initiatives that better organizations and communities. Prior to joining Catalysis, Lauren served as director of strategic partnerships and programs at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). She has extensive experience developing and facilitating science communication professional development programs for STEM professionals. A fourth generation Portlander, Lauren is passionate about building thriving communities—through hard work, sharing meals with friends and family, enjoying public spaces, and tackling one house project at a time.

Joe Palca is a science correspondent for NPR. Since joining NPR in 1992, he has covered a range of science topics — everything from biomedical research to astronomy. He previously launched the eponymous series, “Joe’s Big Idea” to explore the minds and motivations of scientists and inventors. As part of Joe’s Big Idea, Palca created “Friends of Joe’s Big Idea.” FOJBIs (pronounced foe-JOE-bees) has transformed over the years to become the SciCommers Network, a platform for early-career scientists interested in improving their communications skills.

John Meyer is the Associate Director of Science Communication at the University of Washington’s College of the Environment.  He has been an advocate for science throughout his career, which includes time as a marine ecologist, natural resource policy advisor at the national, regional, and local levels, and communications professional within numerous university settings. John brings his expertise in these arenas to connect science with societal needs, helping create pathways for researchers to have an even greater impact through their work.

Jamie Bell has been the Project Director and Principal Investigator of the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) at the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) in Washington, D.C. since 2010. Previously he has served in a variety of leadership and content development roles in STEM education organizations, projects and programs including at the Exploratorium, The Discovery Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Science Media Group and TERC.