educatorbios

=SCIENCE CENTRE BIOS:= As of now in no particular order. To be organized soon.

Paul Kortenaar: OSC Associate Director of Education (Formerly TCDSB) x3198
Bio coming soon!

[[image:matt-blowhard.jpg width="208" height="208" align="left" caption="Matt wishes he had a Jetpack..."]]
Matt is entering his 3rd year with the OSC Education department. He spent 1 year as a part time presenter then took a year to be a professional actor. On his return he started to coordinate the [|Science School] and organize the yearly event [|Earth and Space Week]. Outside of the OSC Matt is enthusiastic about Theatre, film, comedy, puppetry, construction, engineering, automation, computers, the internet, ultimate frisbee, curling, hockey, sculpture, welding, and music (singing and guitar). He backs that with degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering and Education.

Matt is very proud that a show he helped to create in 2003 [|"Evil Dead the Musical"] is now playing on stage in 4 countries, and is being produced into a feature 3D film in 2009. Matt performed in the show as a lead character, designed the sets, puppetry, special FX and worked on the marketing of the show through it's various runs from 2003 - 2008. Matt also enjoys inordinately powerful leaf blowers! Take that leaves!!!

Mary Nishio: Biology - TDSB x2810
Bio coming soon!

Leslie Fradkin: Chemistry - TDSB x2368
Bio coming soon!

Stewart Craven: Math - TDSB x2800
Bio coming soon!

Maria Price: Physics - TCDSB x2889
Bio coming soon!

Phil Mozel: OSC Educator x2859
Phil’s “thing” is astronomy. As an amateur astronomer he enjoys observing and photographing the sky, especially solar and lunar eclipses. His other main interest is observing and recording the light variations of variable stars, the information thus generated being submitted to the American Association of Variable Star Observers where it is archived and made available to researchers. He has published a number of articles, mostly on the history of astronomy, and is a contributing editor for the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, of which he is a member. He is the Lead on astronomy and space school programs at the Science Centre.

Martin Fischer: OSC Educator x2362
Martin loves science centres. Besides making students excited and happy every day, he loves that he works with talented, smart, funny and quite crazy people. He is known to be the go-to-person for computer and technology related questions. He is also somewhat infamous for his crusade against the “Bernoulli Explanation of Flight” which bore fruit last year when it was removed from the Ontario Curriculum. Martin has worked at a science centre in Switzerland before coming to Canada in 1999. He was born in Switzerland and studied Geography at the University of Zurich. His master thesis was on a multi-party fisheries conflict in Lake Huron. Martin is the lead educator for the physics programs, the innovation workshops and the Super Monday school programs.

[[image:sugarman2.JPG width="237" height="195" align="left" caption="It's a bird? It's a plane? No! It's Sugarman!"]]David Sugarman: OSC EVENTS & PUBLIC PROGRAMS x3122
I've been working at the Science Centre for 27 years (I started when I was 7 [ha ha]), as an exhibit developer, demonstator, programme developer, presenter. Although I'm a biologist, I'm interested in ALL aspects of science, and have worked on projects ranging from the Geological Timeline on the B level bridge to presentations on the Dec. 2004 tsunami in South Asia to exhibits in the Human Body Hall. I love to talk about science. I like music (mostly classical), art, theatre, movies (who doesn't ?), bicycling, and lots of other stuff that would take too long to list

Kevin von Appen: OSC Associate Director, Daily Experience Operations X3144
Kevin works with the teams that give our visitors new experiences every day - from our hosts and volunteers, to our web team, editorial department, audio-visual and multimedia producers, our library, Kidspark, and the Weston Family Innovation Centre. He started out as a crime reporter for a newspaper before he joined the Centre as a science writer in 1988. He's also a published playwright and has co-created web experiences for America OnLine, Sympatico and Microsoft Network.

Kathy Nicholaichuk: OSC Audio/Visual Designer x2378
media type="custom" key="2682113"

Sabrina Greupner: OSC Manager, Weston Family Innovation Centre x3162
Sabrina is responsible for the daily operations of the Weston Family Innovation Centre, including Hot Zone, Challenge Zone, the Inno Centre and KidSpark. She began her career at the Ontario Science Centre in 1982, and worked as a Host until 1988 when she left to teach English and Media/Computer Studies at high schools in York Region for 12 years. She returned to the OSC in 2000 as a Science Writer/Editor, helping develop exhibit copy and content for exhibitions, the OSC website and internal publications. Sabrina managed to rack up significant student debt by studying Modern Languages, Linguistics, English Literature and Digital Media/Photography for far too many years. She has also run her own desktop publishing business.

Julie Davidson: OSC Manager of Recreational and Family Learning Experiences x3126
Julie has been working at the OSC since 2000. She began as a Program Leader, then became the Manager of Recreational and Family Learning Experiences in 2003. Her department runs popular programs for children and families such as Summer Camp, Sleepovers, and Birthday Parties, as well as coordinates the youth volunteer program here at the Centre. Her university degree is in Recreation and Leisure Studies from the University of Waterloo. She has work experience in a variety of settings, ranging from municipal camps, to family vacation resorts, to the Zoo.

Ana Klasnja: OSC Senior Multimedia Producer x3269
Ana's projects blur traditional boundaries between art, science, design and technology. She is curator of the !DEA Gallery in the Weston Family Innovation Centre which provides the opportunity for talented emerging artists and researchers to display innovative projects. Before this she was responsible for development of interactive experiences for multimedia exhibits, web sites and programs for the OSC, as well as for international clients. Focused on information architecture and creative direction. [Graduated Arts & Design, post grad. Aesthetics, Art History & Multimedia Production]

Sara Poirier: OSC Space Events & Public Programs x4590
Sara graduated with an honors-double-specialist in physics and astronomy from the University of Toronto. As a student, she worked as a research assistant in the University of Toronto Department of Astronomy and at the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Centre before joining the Ontario Science Centre in 2000 as the staff astronomer. In 2006, Ms. Poirier completed graduate coursework at the International Space University (ISU), in Strasbourg, France, working to develop a proposal for a closed-loop habitat for the Moon under the supervision the Pete Wardon, director of NASA’s Ames Research Centre. Returning to the OSC, Ms Poirier led the research and development of content and experiences in the Centre’s new space hall, and applied her ISU experience towards the development of experiences for the Facing Mars exhibition.

Currently, Sara's responsibilities include show production and training for the Centre's new planetarium, and the coordination of public programs for the International Year of Astronomy. Sara enjoys mentoring students, and regularly speaks at universities and high schools on topics ranging from ‘women in science’ to ‘space weather’. She makes frequent appearances on TVOKids and CBC, along with other local and national media outlets. In her spare time she plays competitive-level women's soccer, and enjoys yoga, hiking, traveling and spending time with friends and family.

Allan E. Bush: OSC Senior Advisor, Product Innovation and Development x3192
Technology, physics (Ph.D.) and astronomy (M.Sc.) are Allan’s bags (if you don’t include Euchre!). He knows a lot about Macs and video conferencing. He has been at the OSC forever (20 years) so know all the nooks and crannies of the organization and the building as well as program development and exhibit development. His title is “Senior Advisor, Product Innovation and Development,” but nobody really knows what Allan does outside of lunchtime, not even him! He enjoys volleyball, euchre, baseball, euchre, MTG, euchre and cards.