Holly Kerby
FOUNDER | Chemist | Playwright | Educator
Holly Walter Kerby is a chemist, playwright, educator, and researcher. She is faculty emeritus in chemistry and playwriting at Madison College, and was named the national 2012 Community College Faculty of the Year by the Association of Community College Trustees. Her plays have been published, podcast, and produced Off-Off-Broadway and across the county. Her papers are published in numerous science education journals.
Holly began using elements and principals of story to teach science concepts in her role as Principal Investigator for Fusion Science Theater, an organization twice funded by the National Science Foundation. She founded Storyform Science to use her method to teach science professionals how to communicate in ways that are engaging, understandable, and memorable. She’s taught Storyform at a number of institutions including the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Discovery Center.
H. Adam Steinberg
Artist | Scientist | Educator
H. Adam Steinberg visualizes scientific data at artforscience.com, for two previous decades he was the Artist/Scientist at UW-Madison's Department of Biochemistry. Over the last 30 years he has worked on many thousands of research articles, journal covers, grants, pitch decks, posters, textbooks and scientific presentations for researchers, startups, and pharmaceutical companies.
Adam has been teaching science professionals for 25 years now, on how to effectively communicate their science, and on how to visualize their data. He has taught these skills at UW-Madison’s Biochemistry and Genetics departments, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Discovery Center. He also spends considerable time mentoring and teaching students at local K-12 schools.
Joan S. Jorgensen, DVM, PhD
Story Fellow
Associate Professor
Department of Comparative Biosciences
School of Veterinary Medicine
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Why is communicating science so important?
I have a passion for communicating science in unique and engaging ways. I think that we scientists must step up to engage the public in meaningful ways so that they are not afraid of science and instead, want to learn more! Everyone loves a good story; it helps to get people engaged and makes them curious and ask more questions. Our world of science is so very interesting—my goal is to make it accessible for all!
Jorgensen Lab Research
Anjalie Schlaeppi
Story Fellow
I’m a biology PhD student in the Huisken lab at the Morgridge Institute for Research. In 2017 I’ve participated in the first edition of the “Illuminating Discovery” communication course. Holly was one of our three teachers. There I started my journey in science communication and outreach.
In the Huisken lab, I try to understand the mechanical properties of the developing zebrafish heart and how it functions as a pump.
