All-Star Team
Research Quest is the culmination of an inspiring effort by an amazing team of professionals and fundraising partners. Each committed themselves to helping NHMU create a powerful learning experience for students. We are grateful for their expertise and many contributions. They include:
Advancing Critical Thinking (ACT) Project Team (NHMU Staff)
Director of Education and Community Engagement
Merinda Davis
Digital Learning and Curriculum Coordinator
Chris Eisenberg
Deputy Director and Director of Philanthropy & Communications
Jason Cryan
Executive Director
Bryn Dentinger
Curator of Mycology; Associate Professor, Biology Department
McKenna Lane
Digital Learning and Curriculum Coordinator
Madlyn Larson
Associate Director of Education Initiatives
Director of Exhibits
Carrie Levitt-Bussian
Collections Manager, Paleontology
Mitch Power, Ph.D.
Curator of Garrett Herbarium; Associate Professor, Geography Department
Lynne Zummo, Ph.D.
Curator of Learning Sciences
Ex-Officio Members
Sarah George, Ph.D.
Ann Hanniball
Becky Menlove
Glenna Nielsen-Grimm
University of Utah, College of Education, Educational Psychology Department
Instructional Design and Educational Technology Program
Program Director and Associate Professor
Ex-Officio Members
Michelle Hudson, Graduate Research Assistant
Matt Orr, Graduate Research Assistant
Eric Poitras, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Tatum Steele, Graduate Research Assistant
Funding Partners
Joseph and Evelyn Rosenblatt Charitable Fund
I.J. and Jeanné Wagner Foundation
Utah Department of Workforce Services Utah Cluster Acceleration Partnership
ACT National Advisory Team
(Research Quest Cohort 2013-2016)University of Utah, Entertainment, Arts and Engineering Program, Associate Director and Professor
Sue Allen, Ph.D.
Allen and Associates, Principal
Thomas Arnett
Clayton Christensen Institute, Research Fellow
Jamie Bell
Association of Science and Technology Centers/Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Education, Project Director
Kirsten Butcher, Ph.D.
University of Utah, Department of Educational Psychology, Director and Professor
Christelle Estrada, Ph.D.
Utah State Board of Education, Title III Education Specialist
Stanford University, Department of Education, Associate Dean and Professor
Preeti Gupta Ph.D.
Director of Youth Learning and Research at the American Museum of Natural History
Ricky Scott
Utah State Board of Education, Science Specialist
Jennifer Shirk
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Manager
Eric Siegel
New York Hall of Science, Director and Chief Content Officer
Sarah Young
Utah State Board of Education, Digital Teaching and Learning Coordinator
Research Quest Education Advisors
Lynn Gutzwiller
G&C Science
Rachael Coleman
G&C Science
Sarah Coffey
Amanda Gladden
Dean Levie
Alaina Marti
Ashley McDonald
Paige Olson
Rebecca Rendell
Amanda Spencer
Kim Vance
Sarah Coffey
Rachael Coleman
Lisa Covert
Becky Curtis
Lena Foster
Lynn Gutzwiller
David Joy
Stacia Kaylor
Dean Levie
Ashley McDonald
Dhylan Meyer
Paige Olson
Amanda Spencer
Kelly Thomas
Kim Vance
Utah State Board of Education, Title III Education Specialist
Brett Moulding
Utah Partnership for Effective Science Teaching and Learning, Director
Barbara Gentry
Jordan School District, Secondary Science Specialist (Retired)
Tyson Grover
Davis School District, Science Supervisor
Jane Harwood
Jordan School District, Curriculum Administrator-Science/STEM
Melissa Mendenhall
USBE Elementary Science/STEM Specialist
Paul Nance
Jordan School District, Elementary Science Specialist
Weber School District, Science Specialist
Ricky Scott
USBE Secondary Science Education Specialist
Stephanie Wood
Granite School District, Associate Director of Online Learning
Donna Ziegenfuss
Ed.D., University of Utah, Marriot Library, Associate Librarian in Graduate and Undergraduate Services
Ad Hoc Advisors
Lynn Gutzwiller, Jordan School District, Science Specialist
Rachael Coleman, Jordan School District, STEM Specialist
JoAnne Brown, Granite School District, Science Department Chair
Utah Education Network
UEN Web Designer
Michelle Dumas
UEN Web Designer
Laura Hunter, Ph.D.
Chief Operating Officer
Database Designer
Justin Reed
Database Designer
Tim Stack
Project Manager
Video Production Team
Colby Bryson
Producer and Director
Derek Long
Sound Recorder/Mixer
Alec Lyons
Director of Photography
Creative Producer & Script Writer
Hannah Taylor
Spanish Closed Captioning Services
Interactives Development & Art
Paleontology Artist
Ron Blakely
Deep Times Maps, Inc.
Amanda Copeland
Art Coding Design
Zoie Copeland
Illustrator
Chris Fimbel
Software Technology Group
Mitch Guarente
Animator, Revity
Animation Director, Revity
Lukas Panzarin
Paleontology Artist
Jonathan Powell
Interactive Developer
Thomas Pryor
Software Technology Group
Uinta Digital
Benedict Webb
Art Director, Thought Den
Entertainment, Arts and Engineering (EAE) Program at the University of Utah
Roger Altizer, Ph.D.
Associate Director
Ryan Bown
MFA
Assistant Professor
Jesse Ferraro
Project Manager
Zeno Saviour
Engineer
Sydnie Ritchie
Producer
Yash Kapani
Engineer
Maté Mihanovic
Producer
Engineer
Matt Jensen
Research Assistant
Swapnil Sawant
Engineer
Brenton Walker
Producer
Isaac Kellis
Artist
Jeff Jackman
Engineer
Digitization and Modeling
NHMU Collections Digitization Manager
Brian McBride
University of Utah Marriott Library
Idaho State University
Autodesk, ReCap Pro
Digital Strategy and Analytics
Barry Joseph Consulting
Jordan Poortenga
Mutually Human
Mutually Human
Dave Riley
Mutually Human
Youth Teaching Youth ACT/EAE Interns
Youth Development Programs Manager
Cayden Turnbow
2016-2017 intern
Gerardo Robles
2015-2016 intern
2015-2016 intern
Ricky Arellano
2014-2015 intern
Johnson Liu
2014-2015 intern
NHMU Science Advisors
Graduate Student, University of Utah
Christy Bills
Entomology & Malacology Collections Manager
Tylor Birthisel
Paleontology Preparation Lab Manager
Shannon Boomgarden, Ph.D.
Director of Range Creek Field Station
Savhannah Carpenter
Paleo Undergraduate Student, University of Utah
Bryn Dentinger, Ph.D.
Curator of Mycology
Katrina Derieg
Vertebrate Collections Manager
Randy Irmis, Ph.D.
Chief Curator, Curator of Paleontology
Randy Johnson
Paleontology Volunteer & Fossil Preparator
Stanley Kitchen, Ph.D.
Research Botanist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service
Bureau of Land Management, Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry
Carrie Levitt-Bussian
Paleontology Collections Manager
Mark Loewen, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Glenna Nielsen-Grimm, Ph.D.
Anthropology Collections Manager
Epiphany Pecchia-Bekkum
Graduate Student, University of Utah
Mitch Power, Ph.D.
Curator of Botany
Kathleen Ritterbush, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Corinne Springer
Archaeological Center-Range Creek Site Manager
Susy Valasquez-Franco
Graduate Student, University of Utah
Joe Wilson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biology Department, Utah State University
Research Quest Teacher Fellows
Sheri Burton
Dan Hansen
Stephanie Lewis
Jodi Rees
Jennifer Roberts
Heather Shaffer
Sarah Sumison
Becky Curtis
Andrew Gee
Reed James
Rurik Johnson
Alison Lund
Tiffani Martin
Deb Smith
April Thompson
Mike Wallace
Kate Williams
Kathleen Wynn
Broc Ballif
Angela Bazzo
Brandy Beckman
Ken Bennion
Karen Blake
Brent Blanch
JoAnne Brown
Lindsay Child
Jessica Constant
Lori Daniels
Christine Edenfield
Megan Funk
Valerie Gailey
Kristen Galletta
Lora Gibbons
Matthew Hacket
Dane Hepworth
Nicole Herrera
Jill Howells
Phil Hughes
Megan Hurster
Rebecca Kern
Madison Kingsford
Karen Kraus
Sarah Lange
Maria Lee
Julie Leri
Alison Lund
Justin Maddocks
Jennifer Mackay
Sharon McGarry
Leslie Mouton
Bobbi Nielsen
Katie Nelson
Michael Olsen
Kelly Paxton
April Thompson
Kelci Thurman
Carolyn Roberston
Jeff Rolan
Trudy Skeleton
Deb Smith
Jenn Tullis
Mike Wallace
Lindy Worden
Monica Bochicchio
Rachel Cardoza
Rebecca Fenn
Valerie Gailey
Lora Gibbons
Kate Hartwig
Tammy Hudson
Sarah Lange
Amy Olson
Reed James
Jessica Jones
David Joy
Kris Larsh
Alison Lund
Kristin Mansell
Deb Smith
Katie Stoker
Kelly Thomas
Michael Wallace
Michelle Bogden
Sydney Boyer
Linda Brown
Ally Cleveland
Ray Fischer
Bob Foster
Amanda Gladden
Katelynn Ion
Kris Larsh
Patti Later
Dhylan Meyer
Troy Muir
Shannon O'Reilly
Yevgeny Pevzner
Neril Sandeep
Heather Sikes
Lara Tingey
Amee Trevino-Kovacs
In addition to the partners above, Research Quest has benefited from the expert input and time that has been so generously given by dozens of additional advisors and community partners. We are grateful for their support.