Dr. Carlos Javier Martinez is a senior climate scientist with the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). In his role, he focuses on community-driven research, earth-system modeling, data analysis, and science-policy integration. Prior to joining UCS, Dr. Martinez served at the National Science Foundation (NSF), where he oversaw a climate resilience research portfolio, working with scientists, policymakers, and community leaders. He was the strategic lead on the NSF Environmental Justice Strategic Plan and NSF’s contributions to the United Nations Ocean Decade on Sustainable Development. He was also involved with the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), supporting the 5th and 6th National Climate Assessments, and co-authored the U.S. Climate Literacy Guide. Dr. Martinez earned a PhD in earth and environmental sciences from Columbia University, and a BS in meteorology from Texas A&M University. He leads the American Meteorological Society’s Committee on Spirituality, Multifaith Outreach, and Science (COSMOS), and is a council member for the American Geophysical Union (AGU). He has worked to build relationships and connections between multifaith and Indigenous organizations and the weather, water, and climate enterprise on environmentalism, with a steadfast commitment to increase representation and engagement with communities when tackling environmental issues.

Dr. Edwin W. Lee II is a son, brother, friend, mentor, and educator whose work focuses on empowering students with learning instruction, problem-solving skills, and career engagement opportunities that enhance their educational experience by improving their self-efficacy and sense of belonging. After completing his undergraduate work at Louisiana State University, he went on to earn a PhD in electrical engineering at The Ohio State University. He then spent 8 years as a higher education administrator and is now completing the second year of the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship in the STEM Education Directorate at the National Science Foundation. Edwin has completed a TEDx Talk, “Embracing Failure as a Part of the Learning Process,” a TEDx Conversation, “Communal Change from the Inside Out,” and is the co-host of the Black Men Unlearning podcast.

Dr. Reyhaneh (Rey) Maktoufi is a DC-based, Iranian researcher and science communicator. She is the co-producer, host and illustrator of PBS|NOVA’s digital series Sciencing Out, a mini-series on women in history who have used different strategies to communicate their science. Rey received her Ph.D. in Media, Technology, and Society at Northwestern University. She is an HHMI, Tangled Bank Studio Fellow in Science Communication. Previously, Rey was a Rita Allen Foundation Civic Science Fellow in Misinformation at GBH|NOVA. As a researcher, media strategist/consultant, and producer, her main fields of interest are science communication, misinformation, curiosity, public engagement with scientists, and science communication in media. She was a visiting researcher at the Adler Planetarium, where she studied science communication and facilitated workshops on communication skills and she’s also a producer at The Story Collider podcast. Before starting a Ph.D., Rey worked as a health communication facilitator and cancer preventive/palliative care campaign manager in Tehran, Iran. Rey currently enjoys working with different nonprofits such as the Communicating Science Conference (ComSciCon). She also engages in science outreach through writing blog-posts and making science comics and has been interviewed on outlets such as the Smithsonian Magazine and the SETI Institute’s podcast Big Picture Science.

Dr. Brandon Vaidyanathan is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institutional Flourishing Lab at The Catholic University of America. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Business Administration from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia and HEC Montreal respectively, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Vaidyanathan’s research examines the cultural dimensions of religious, commercial, and scientific institutions. He is author of Mercenaries and Missionaries: Capitalism and Catholicism in the Global South, co-author of Secularity and Science: What Scientists Around the World Really Think About Religion, and co-editor of Rebuilding Trust: Clergy Morale in the Wake of the Abuse Crisis. He is also Founder of Beauty at Work, a media platform which includes a podcast and YouTube channel that aims to expand our understanding of beauty: what it is, how it works, and why it matters for the work we do.

Dr. Maryam Zaringhalam is a DC-based biologist who now works in science policy, advocacy, and communication. She currently works as the Senior Director of Policy for the Center for Open Science. In that position, she leads COS’s policy efforts to increase openness, integrity, and reproducibility of research. These activities are anchored in a commitment to democratizing access to science, engaging and including diverse communities in the research process, and translating the products of research into outcomes that benefit the whole of society. She is also a Senior Producer for The Story Collider, bringing true, personal stories about science to live audiences in the D.C. area and teaching scientists how to leverage the tools of narrative storytelling to communicate their work. Prior to joining the Center for Open Science, Maryam served as the Data Science and Open Science Officer at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). From 2022 to 2024, she also served as the Assistant Director for Public Access and Research Policy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Maryam received her PhD in Molecular Biology from the Rockefeller University and earned her BA in Biology at New York University. Following her PhD, she joined NIH as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow.