WXXI & Rochester Museum & Science Center are pleased to present:

The Human Spark PBS Series Preview & TalkBack Event

Register NOW

Sunday, January 10, 2010 from 1:00-3:00 p.m.

at the Rochester Museum & Science Center, Eisenhart Auditorium

Facilitator Bios:

Dr. Elizabeth Perry, RIT College of Science

Elizabeth Perry (M.S. and Ph.D. in Neuroscience, University of Rochester) is currently the Director of the General Science Exploration Program at Rochester Institute of Technology where she also lectures in the School of Biological and Medical Sciences. Her published scientific work has included studies of the genetic and environmental interactions that lead to disease onset in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease/motor neuron disease) and excitotoxic neurodegeneration, autoimmunity and seizure mechanisms related to the fatal pediatric condition, Juvenile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (JNCL/Batten Disease). Dr. Perry is engaged in a variety of efforts related to innovating science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, and is particularly interested in science and math enrichment for very young children.

Dr. George McIntosh, RMSC Director of Collections

George McIntosh, Ph.D. (B.S., University of Buffalo; M.S., Ph.D. in Geology, University of Michigan) is Director of Collections at the Rochester Museum & Science Center. For more than two decades, Dr. McIntosh has pursued his dual interests in geology and public science education at RMSC, working closely with the education and exhibit departments to uphold standards of collection quality, care, and scholarly interpretation, including as the chief natural scientist, exhibition curator and collections/content specialist for the natural science exhibition, Expedition Earth.  As a researcher in geology and paleontology, he has conducted field work in Morocco, Spain, England, Canada (Ontario, Alberta, Northwest Territories), Australia, New Zealand, and across the United States.  Dr. McIntosh has authored numerous research articles and scholarly presentations, including work with Dr. Daniel Fisher on two Pleistocene mastodons recovered in western NY in 1991 and 1994.  

Major funding for The Human Spark is provided by the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Additional funding is provided by The Winston Foundation and the Cheryl and Philip Milstein Family.