Our Instructors
Phillip Ballo
Phil Ballo is a library professional with significant involvement with maker technology. He currently holds two masters degrees in history and library and information sciences See More
Lorrie Blackard Friet
Lorrie Blackard Friet has a BFA in Studio Art & a MFA in Design. Also know as thewavepainter, Lorrie's artwork is featured in collections across the United States as well as in Sweden & Germany. See More
Lizeth Cervantes
Ms. Cervantes received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley in Political Science with a minor in English. During college, she started tutoring as part of her work-study program. See More
Cecilia Chow
Cecilia Chow is a high school science teacher at Innovation High School and an Extension Instructor for Sally Ride Science and Library NExT. See More
Shirli Cohen
Shirli Cohen received a B.S. in Bioengineering from UC San Diego and is excited to share her passion for STEAM with her students. See More
Kayleen Fulton
Kayleen received her undergraduate degree in chemistry before moving up to Alaska to work for an oceanographer at an environmental non-profit (Prince William Sound Science Center). See More
Jessica Fung
Jessica Fung is a undergraduate student at UC San Diego. She is currently working toward a Bachelors of Science in Human Biology. See More
Jose Guaro
Jose Guaro is an undergraudate student at UC San Diego studying Mathematics and Computer Science. Even before entering UCSD, Jose has worked as volunteer in his community, teaching and leading computer science classes at his former elementary school. See More
Aurora Guild
Aurora is a student at UC San Diego studying Environmental Systems of Ecology, Behaviour, and Evolution. She has been a tutor for six years, working in math and the natural sciences with middle school students. See More
Shirley Han
Shirley is an undergraduate student at the University of California, San Diego studying Cognitive Science with Specialization in Machine Learning and Neural Computation as well as Computer Science. See More
Alex Hangsterfer
Alex Hangsterfer manages the Geological Collections at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). She has been managing the collections that consist of sediment cores and dredged rocks for 9 years. See More
Christopher Johnson
Christopher Johnson is a geophysics researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography with a PhD from UC Berkeley and a BS degree from Georgia Tech in Earth Science. See More
Sharon Jones
Sharon Jones has been involved in education world since 1992 when she covered San Diego Unified School District as a reporter for the San Diego Union-Tribune. See More
Thomas Kearney
Thomas Kearney earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications-Visual Arts from UCSD Muir College. He subsequently worked in advertising for a full service agency. See More
Anika Kenion
Anika Kenion received a BA in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley with an emphasis on Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology. See More
Joe Kennedy
Joseph Kennedy is an architectural designer, writer, artist and filmmaker who specializes in sustainable building, ecological design, and community development. See More
Kalyani Kottilil
Kalyani Kottilil is third year undergraduate student studying Bioinformatics at UCSD. She is very interested in the intersections between healthcare, technology, and design, and has applied these interests in her past and current experiences See More
Cynthia Matzke
Cynthia Matzke is an explorer and ocean science communicator who creates STEAM courses by taking lessons from the field into the classroom. See More
Manju Muralidharan
Manju Muralidharan has a Master's Degree in Computer Science from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago and a Bachelors degree in Computer Engineering from Anna University, India, See More
James Newton
James Newton is a professional embedded systems engineer, specializing in robotics and data logging. Although James is self-taught and holds no degrees See More
Lois Peterson
Lois Peterson is a teacher in El Cajon, California and is dedicated to incorporating STEAM activities into her classroom curriculum whenever possible. Prior to teaching El Cajon, she taught in Lakeside and worked to bring STEAM activities to an underserved population; she presented about her STEAM curriculum at the Ignite conference at UCSD in the Spring of 2018, See More
Prior to teaching in California, Mrs. Peterson taught in Montgomery County, Maryland, where she received training in STEAM and also in the International Baccalaureate Curriculum, and was the I.B. coordinator for Newport Mill Middle School in Wheaton, MD. She has been teaching since 1990 and has always been interested in integrated curriculum and STEAM related activities.
She has been teaching in the Sally Ride Science Program for the last 3 years and helped write the curriculum for “Messy Science/Earth on a table top”. She has a B.A. in Communication Studies, a second B.A. in English and Speech Education and a Master’s in Education, Curriculum and Instruction. When she isn’t teaching, she loves spending time with her own science minded kids, Erin and Alden, and her husband, Mike; and hiking with their dog. Lois is looking forward to teaching her 4th summer at Sally Ride and unveiling some new curriculum that she has been developing. She loves science and exploring new ways of learning!
Reesha Rajen
Reesha Rajen has earned her Associate's Degree in Mathematics from MiraCosta College in Oceanside, CA. It was there at MiraCosta that she discovered her passion for teaching. See More
Mackenzie Roberts
Mackenzie Roberts has worked for several years as a geologist, both in industry and as a researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. See More
Madison Sanchez
Madison Sanchez works for the J. Craig Venter Institute in La Jolla, CA as a Laboratory Assistant in the Infectious Disease department See More
Gigi Terzian
Gigi Terzian is presently a Librarian for San Diego Public Library, where she is involved in various special projects, such as, supporting the development of public technology labs and takes part in various library committees, such as the Technology Advisory Board. See More
Alan Yang
Alan Yang is currently a programmer analyst and a visualization specialist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography where he as worked for the last 5 years. See More