Previous Speakers

Alan Nursall was the President and CEO of TELUS World of Science – Edmonton (TWOSE) for ten years. He joined TWOSE in January, 2014 following a 24-year career at Science North in Ontario and six years running his own science communication company. He retired from TWOSE in June, 2023. Alan helped launch Science North in Sudbury in 1984 and served as Science Director from 1999-2007, responsible for the science experience at Science North and its companion facility, Dynamic Earth. He started NEXT Exhibits, Inc., in 2007, creating exhibits, shows, and other experiences for science centres and museums across North America and beyond.

Bettymaya Foott loves to bring people to the dark side. As the Director of Engagement for the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), Bettymaya works with a global community of dark sky defenders, empowering them with tools, resources, and inspiration to protect the night sky. An avid astrophotographer, you can usually find her out under the stars with one of her three cameras battling off mosquitos. Bettymaya’s photography has been featured in Sky and Telescope, National Geographic, and the Los Angeles Times. Her dark sky efforts have reached TedX Kansas City and the New York Times.

Founder and Owner of Space Weather Trackers via Facebook pages, astrophotographer, and aurora chaser, Christian has spent the last decade breaking down the complexities of space weather events and phenomena in order to enlighten the public on what sources to check, as well as what the data means, to increase their likelihood of success in viewing the aurora themselves. With a background in Astrophysics from The Ohio State University in the states, teaching classes on the subject for multiple years in Fairbanks, Alaska, as well as leading as a group expert in several aurora groups across the world, he looks to make the beauty of the aurora personally known to as many as possible.

In 2010, Emily Carney started a spaceflight blog called This Space Available. Fun fact: the late Gene Cernan (Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, and Apollo 17 astronaut, also known as “The Last Man on the Moon”) once asked her, “What the hell is a space blog?” In 2011, Carney wanted to start a Facebook group for space enthusiasts, but was struggling to find a good name. Her husband, Steve, suggested “Space Hipsters” as sort of a sarcastic placeholder, but the name stuck. The group grew more quickly than she could imagine, and as of April 2023 it totals over 41,000 members. Space Hipsters boasts members from all around the world, and includes space enthusiasts, writers, artists, scientists, engineers, aspiring astronauts, and even a few actual astronauts

Jay Ingram is a Science broadcaster and award-winning writer. Steve Dodd(lead guitar) is a music composer for tv and film; he’s published more than 3,000 compositions worldwide. Josip Vulic (bass) is a Canadian operator/designer and music producer hobbyist. Trevor Day (rhythm guitar) is a physiologist, specializing in blood chemistry at high altitude. Ben Jackson (drummer) has spent his entire life immersed in music! Garth Kennedy (keyboards) is part owner of a software company, which gets in the way of music sometimes. But not this time.

Jeanine is an avid aurora chaser, astro photographer and guide. She’s a recognized, and published photographer based in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, Canada. Jeanine leads aurora photography workshops, is a judge for the International Dark Sky Association’s Capture the Dark photo contest and has spoken about her aurora chasing adventures to an international audience. She promotes the importance of dark sky awareness and the magical beauty of the night sky through her presentations, photography and writing.

Dr. Pilarski received the B.ASc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia in 2004, the Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Alberta in 2009, and completed his postdoctoral training in computing science with Dr. Richard S. Sutton at the University of Alberta. Dr. Pilarski's research interests include reinforcement learning and decision making, artificial intelligence, real-time machine learning, human-machine interaction, intelligence amplification, rehabilitation technology, and assistive robotics. He leads the Amii Adaptive Prosthetics Program—an interdisciplinary initiative focused on creating intelligent artificial limbs to restore and extend abilities for people with amputations.

Marlos is a Fellow in Residence and Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), and an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta. Marlos’s research mostly focuses on the problem of reinforcement learning. He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from UFMG, in Brazil, and his Ph.D. from the University of Alberta, where he popularized the idea of temporally-extended exploration through options. He was a researcher at DeepMind from 2021 to 2023 and at Google Brain from 2019 to 2021, during which time he made major contributions to reinforcement learning, in particular the application of deep reinforcement learning to control Loon’s stratospheric balloons.

Matthew is a Fellow and Canada CIFAR AI Chair at Amii and an Assistant Professor of Computing Science at the University of Alberta. He achieved his Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2019 at the Georgia Institute of Technology where his thesis focused on Combinational Machine Learning Creativity. His research has been featured in popular media such as Vice, Time, Motherboard, BBC and Rolling Stone, and his code has been applied to research at Cornell University, Drexel University, Northeastern University, Worcester Polytechnic University, the University of California, Davis, and the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Mathematician Dr. Erich Karkoschka works as a specialist for planetary research at the Lunar and Planetary Center in Tucson, Arizona. He has observed every object presented in his book, Observer's Sky Atlas: The 500 Best Deep-Sky Objects With Charts and Images.

Marc Garneau has distinguished himself in three distinct fields. As a Naval Officer with the Canadian Armed Forces, he spent 10 years as a combat systems engineer. In 1984, Garneau became the first Canadian Astronaut to go to space and from 2001 to 2005 was President of the Canadian Space Agency. As a Federal Politician from 2008 – 2023 he served as Liberal House Leader, Minister of Transport, and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Marc was appointed as Companion of the Order of Canada in 2003 for outstanding achievement and service to Canada and humanity at large.

Hamid Hassani is a PhD student in Physics and Astrophysics at the University of Alberta, actively contributing to the international collaboration studying galaxies, known as PHANGS (Physics at High Angular Resolution in nearby galaxies). His research centers on unraveling the evolution of galaxies, utilizing a variety of ground-based and space-based telescopes to explore the formation and regulation of stars. Recently, Hamid made significant contributions by utilizing the James Webb Space Telescope, the largest and most advanced space telescope, to investigate dust properties in nearby galaxies.

A thirty year resident of Jasper Alberta, Mike Gere has been a photographer of many sorts for the last 25 years. Owner and operator of Jasper Photo Tours he is a self-taught photographer of landscapes, wildlife and portraiture, with his favorite school of photography being night photography. Night imagery with magnetism such as those of auroras, astrophotography, light painting and time lapses are his most sought-after subjects. Mike is always up for a photo adventure of any sort and can be easily bribed with oatmeal raisin cookies.

Alan Nursall is President & CEO of TELUS World of Science – Edmonton. For twenty years, he entertained Canadians with science demonstrations and adventures in popular weekly segments Science and the City, and The Alan Nursall Experience on the Canadian television series Daily Planet on Discovery Channel Canada. For the past six years, Alan has hosted the popular Saturday night trivia event at Jasper Dark Sky.

Emma Louden is an astrophysicist and space entrepreneur on a mission to help people find their place in space. She works at the intersection of academia and the space industry and is a strategic thinker and leader who is passionate about being a steward of the story of the relationship between space exploration and humanity. As an astrophysics Ph.D. student at Yale University, Emma studies the geometry of exoplanetary systems. Emma uses the kind of thinking spurred by this inquiry to help humanity develop a consciousness that puts the Solar System in context—Earth’s precarious position in the

Jameel is used to living life in the fast lane. A career as a fighter pilot and experimental test pilot on high-performance fighter aircraft in Canada, the UK, and the US has left him with some pretty unique journal entries. Jameel spent much of his youth looking upwards. While learning to fly at 16 years old in a field in Southern Alberta, Jameel never imagined that he’d become a spaceline pilot for a commercial space company, Virgin Galactic. Born in Calgary, Alberta, Jameel is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has 4,600 hours flying experience in more than 55 different aircraft. He was also one of the final four candidates in the Canadian Space Agency’s 2009 astronaut recruitment campaign.

Jeanine is an aurora chaser, astro photographer and explorer. She’s a recognized, and published photographer based in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, Canada. Focusing her work for the past 6 years on capturing the Northern Lights. With a love for astronomy and space weather she promotes the importance of dark sky awareness and the astronomical wonders of the night sky through her presentations, photography and writing.

Jonathan Ward’s joy of bringing the space program to life for the public began in high school, when he served as a tour guide at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, a NASA Solar System Ambassador, and a cruise ship enrichment lecturer in space exploration. He authored four highly-regarded books on American space history, most recently collaborating with Eileen Collins, the first American woman to command a space mission. In 2019, Jonathan earned a place in the record books as the first person east of the Mississippi River—and only the fourth person to date—to successfully image all 110 Messier Objects in one night.

Jay Ingram has hosted two national science programs in Canada, Quirks and Quarks on CBC radio and Daily Planet on Discovery Channel Canada. His 19 books have been translated into 15 languages. Jay has six honorary degrees and is a member of the Order of Canada. From 2005-2015, he chaired the Science Communications Program at the Banff Centre, he is co-founder of the arts and engineering smashup called Beakerhead in Calgary, and he is one of the hosts of the podcast Anthropomania.

Patrick is a Fellow, Canada CIFAR AI Chair and Member of the Board of Directors at Amii, as well as an Associate Professor in the Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Medicine and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Computing Science at the University of Alberta. He holds a Canada Research Chair in Machine Intelligence for Rehabilitation and is a principal investigator in the Reinforcement Learning and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the Bionic Limbs for Improved Natural Control Lab and the Sensory Motor Adaptive Rehabilitation Technology Network at the University of Alberta. Patrick is also a Senior Staff Research Scientist at DeepMind in Edmonton, Alberta.

Rob Meyerson is the founder and CEO of Delalune Space, a management consulting company focused on the aerospace, mobility, technology, and investment sectors. He is an angel investor, advisor, and director for companies operating in the hypersonics, space, mobility, technology, and telecommunications industries. Rob is the former President of Blue Origin. Rob oversaw the steady growth of Blue Origin from 2003 to 2018, building the company from its founding into a more than 1500-person organization. Prior to joining Blue, Rob was a Senior Manager at Kistler Aerospace. Rob began his career as an aerodynamicist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC).

Dr. Sarah Jane Pell is an artist testing technologies and human expression in extreme spaces. Pell is a commercial diver, aquanaut, and analog astronaut. Monash University Associate Professor (Research) in Human-Centred Computing and Creativity, Artist-in-Residence at the Monash Immersive Visualisation Platform, and Chief Investigator of research in HCI design for Aquatic Performance. Her practice begins underwater to embody deep ecologies in future-focused research and interaction design.

Seth is Senior Astronomer and Institute Fellow at the SETI Institute, in Mountain View, California. He has an undergraduate degree in physics from Princeton University, and a doctorate in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology. For much of his career, Seth conducted radio astronomy research on galaxies, and has published approximately sixty papers in professional journals.

Dr. Shawna Pandya is a physician, aquanaut, scientist-astronaut candidate program graduate with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS)/Project PoSSUM, skydiver, pilot-in-training, VP Immersive Medicine with Luxsonic Technologies and Director of Medical Research at Orbital Assembly Corporation. She is Director of IIAS’ Space Medicine Group, Chief Instructor for IIAS’ Operational Space Medicine course, and podcast host with World Extreme Medicine’s WEMCast. Dr. Pandya was on the first crew to test a commercial spacesuit in zero-gravity in 2015. She earned her aquanaut designation during the 2019 NEPTUNE (Nautical Experiments in Physiology, Technology and Underwater Exploration) mission.

Dr. Torah Kachur is the CBC Radio One National Science columnist and a sessional professor at the University of Alberta. She received her PhD from the University of Alberta in the wonderfully irrelevant field of worm gonads and molecular genetics. The reality of studying worm gonads for the rest of her life forced Torah into doing something she loves even more than worms and that’s talking about science. Each week on CBC, Torah explains the latest and greatest science news stories and gets to talk about everything from white blood cells to black holes. In the summer of 2014, Torah produced and hosted “What a Waste” – a nationally broadcasted summer show on CBC radio One as well as dozens of holiday radio specials on all kinds of topics.

From aspiring rock star to history-making Ph.D. rocket scientist, Adam Steltzner is recognized as one of NASA’s leading – and most unique – innovators. For nearly a decade, Adam led and inspired the breakthrough team that invented the ingenious “sky crane” landing system that so spectacularly landed the Mars rover, Curiosity on the Martian surface in 2012. Next, Adam will lead NASA’s Mars 2020 Project that will gather core samples of Mars for scientific discovery.

Rob Meyerson is the founder and CEO of Delalune Space, a management consulting company focused on the aerospace, mobility and technology sectors. As President of Blue Origin, Rob oversaw the steady growth of the company from startup, evolving a 10-person research team into a more than 1500-person organization. Under Rob’s leadership, Blue Origin developed the New Shepard system for suborbital human and research flights, the BE-3 LOX/LH2 rocket engine, the BE-4 LOX/LNG rocket engine, the New Glenn launch vehicle as well as the manufacturing and test capabilities to enable all the above.

Alan Nursall is a Canadian scientist and President & CEO TELUS World of Science Edmonton, who reported on science news for the Canadian television series Daily Planet and the Alan Nursall Experience on the Discovery Channel.

Dr. Torah Kachur is the CBC Radio One National Science columnist and a sessional professor at the University of Alberta. She received her PhD from the University of Alberta in the wonderfully irrelevant field of worm gonads and molecular genetics. The reality of studying worm gonads for the rest of her life forced Torah into doing something she loves even more than worms and that’s talking about science. Each week on CBC, Torah explains the latest and greatest science news stories and gets to talk about everything from white blood cells to black holes. In the summer of 2014, Torah produced and hosted “What a Waste” – a nationally broadcasted summer show on CBC radio One as well as dozens of holiday radio specials on all kinds of topics.

Dr. Hilding Neilson is Mi’kmaq from Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland) whose work focuses on stellar and exoplanet astrophysics and on indigenizing astronomy. He earned is PhD from the University of Toronto in 2009 on Cepheid atmospheres and mass loss. He was then an Alexander von Humboldt fellow at the University of Bonn followed by a research professor at East Tennessee State University. Hilding returned to the University of Toronto in 2014 as a CLTA assistant professor.

Brian Edward Cox is an English physicist and former musician who is a professor of particle physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester and The Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science.

Philip Cary Plait, also known as The Bad Astronomer, is an American astronomer, skeptic, and popular science blogger. Plait has worked as part of the Hubble Space Telescope team, images and spectra of astronomical objects, as well as engaging in public outreach advocacy for NASA missions.

Bob McDonald is a Canadian author and science journalist. He is the national science commentator for CBC Television and CBC News Network, and since 1992 has been the host of a weekly radio science show, Quirks & Quarks which draws approximately 800,000 listeners each week.

With a career spanning five decades, George Takei is known around the world for his founding role in the acclaimed television series Star Trek, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the Starship Enterprise. But George Takei's story goes where few stories have gone before. From a childhood spent with his family wrongfully imprisoned in a Japanese Internment Camp during WWII, to becoming one of the country's leading figures in the fight for social justice, LGBTQ rights, and marriage equality—George Takei remains a powerful voice on issues ranging from politics to pop culture.

Bill Nye, scientist, engineer, comedian, author, and inventor, is a man with a mission: to help foster a scientifically literate society, to help people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. Making science entertaining and accessible is something Bill has been doing most of his life.

Chris Austin Hadfield is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot, musician, and writer. The first Canadian to perform extravehicular activity in outer space, he has flown two Space Shuttle missions and also served as commander of the International Space Station.