JEREMY CHAPMAN completed his PhD in the particle astrophysics group at Brown University. Jeremy earned his B.S. in Physics and B.S. in Computer Engineering with a minor in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University in 2007. Jeremy studies particle astrophysics both professionally as well as recreationally, believing that a fuller understand of the Universe will foster a greater appreciation for one's place within it. He helped develop the LUX experiment, the most sensitive dark matter detector in the world, and currently works for MIT Lincoln Labs. 





RYAN MICHNEY earned his PhD as a member of the Weak Lensing and Observational Cosmology group in Brown University's Physics Department. He double-majored in Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College, graduating with honors in 2006. Ryan specializes in the study of galaxy clusters through gravitational lensing, as a means of investigating the evolution and contents of the universe on largest scales. His most recent work was a significantly large analysis of imagery from the 8-meter Subaru Telescope in Hawaii, with the ultimate goal of improving our understanding of dark energy—the mysterious quantity which drives the accelerating expansion of the universe. He has also been active in outreach efforts in the Providence area, working with Brown's Ladd Observatory, Roger Williams Museum of Natural History, and MLK Elementary School to promote science literacy. In his free time he plays the ukulele and tries to avoid contemplating how small we are in relation to the rest of the universe.

SCOTT MACNEILL operates telescopes and presents the night sky at Brown University's Ladd Observatory, the University of Rhode Island's Alton Jones Observatory, and is the current Director of Frosty Drew Observatory in Charlestown, Rhode Island. He is an avid astro/night photographer and has started a creative works project with the mission of creating photographic devices that are inexpensive and simple to use. In addition, Scott develops and maintains the frostydrew.org website, and writes a weekly note on astronomical happenings for Frosty Drew. Scott's photographs have been seen in Rhode Island Monthly magazine, The Skyscraper, Space.com, Earthsky, Universe Today, Science Live, Brown University News, Weather Underground, WJAR, Sky News London, China Times, United Daily News, and other paper, televised, and online publications. Scott is a professional Systems and Software Engineer with roots in the open source community.

STUART WILSON is an accomplished performer, writer, and improviser from Providence, Rhode Island. In addition to his solo show It's a Spaceship Now, he has appeared in various plays with the Wilbury Group, Counter-Productions Theatre and Elemental Theatre Collective's 44 Plays for 44 Presidents. Stuart performs monthly with the Sparkling Beatniks of the Empire Revue and is a founding member of the Providence Improv Guild. He regularly improvises with Improv Jones, The Modell Brothers, and Galactic. He lives in a Winnebago. • www.stuartwilsondesign.com








CAROLINE DOHERTY is an artist, writer, and educator based in Buffalo, NY. She makes drawings (about places) and objects (about communicating), and is experimenting with interactive set pieces for performance. She has honed crafts in the woods of Maine and North Carolina, been a resident artist on the North coast of Iceland, been locked in a gallery in Amsterdam, and collaborated on projects with strangers and friends in the US and Europe. Locally, she is attempting to change the rules of public education, and sometimes designs costumes for adult and children's theater. • www.carolinedohertystudio.com




CATHERINE M. HOOD is a Rhode Island-based visual artist with Pacific Northwest roots.  She studied sculpture and printmaking at Parsons School of Design (NYC) and Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle), and works primarily in immersive installation, drawing, and artist books.  Influenced by the scientific process and such disciplines as neuroscience, astrophysics, Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry, optics, architecture, design, and Zen Buddhism, her work nonlinearly inquires into memory, viscerality, transience, temporality, loss, and poignancy.  In addition to her studio practice, Catherine is the Development & Communications Manager at Riverzedge Arts, a nonprofit and social enterprise in Woonsocket that provides youth with meaningful and marketable art and design skills through client work and public projects. • www.catherinemhood.com



JOSHUA LANTZY – Born in Pittsburgh to a neonatologist from Appalachia and the daughter of a Hungarian immigrant musician, Joshua moved to Providence in 2007 to study architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. Combining his lifelong connection to music with his love of building, his collaborative degree project focused on the space of musical practice and ideas of community-centered performance. Currently, he is a designer and maker of things, living and working in Chicago, IL. • cargocollective.com/lantzy





JAMIE TOPPER is a percussionist specializing in Afro-Caribbean and Middle Eastern rhythmic traditions. She has performed with Africaribe, Nuestro Tambo, Judson Claiborne, Manteca Folk Ensemble, and Volumes of Forgotten Lore. Jamie has worked as a Music Teaching Artist in Chicago schools and community settings for over 12 years for nationally renowned arts organizations such as Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE), Snow City Arts, Columbia College's Center for Community Arts Partnerships and Project AIM (Arts Integration Mentorship), Urban Gateways, After School Matters, Northeastern University's Chicago Teacher's Center, and Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries. In 2010 Topper was awarded the acclaimed 3Arts Teaching Artist Award for her work. She recently completed a Masters degree in Public Humanities at Brown University and was in residence at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. • www.jamietopper.com 


JACOB RICHMAN is a mixed-media composer whose work explorers the relationship between sight and sound in live performance and fixed media works.  His performance pieces mix live-processed video, music and sound to create unique multimedia settings in which performers can interact. He is fascinated by what he sees as the interconnectedness of things: people with places, sounds with textures, humans with animals, plants and the natural world. He feels that exploring the relationships between sounds and images in performance is an effective way to both investigate and convey these greater connections that surround us. Jacob received his PhD from the MEME program at Brown University and teaches at the University of Rhode Island. • www.jacob-richman.com



KIRSTEN VOLNESS is a composer, pianist, and educator who grew up outside a small town in southern Minnesota—a place which fostered in her a keen interest in the outdoors. The magic to be found in the natural world informs and inspires her creative work, as do various spiritual traditions, environmental, and sociopolitical issues. She has received commissions from the BMI Foundation, ASCAP/SEAMUS, World Future Council Foundation, the Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance, and has written for various performers such as Hotel Elefant, REDSHIFT, NOW Ensemble, Colorado Quartet, and Ann Arbor Symphony.  A frequent and eager collaborator and performer, she has written songs with EXILKABARETT and Erik Ehn’s Tenderloin Opera Company, is a founding member of multimedia performance groups Awesome Collective and Meridian Project, is an affiliate artist of Sleeping Weazel, and pianist/multi-instrumentalist for Hotel Elefant. She has received grants from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (2014 & 2010 Fellowships in Music Composition, 2014 Project Grant) and New Music USA.  She holds composition degrees from the Universities of Michigan (DMA, MM) and Minnesota (BA summa cum laude) and teaches privately and at the University of Rhode Island.  She also serves on the board of directors for the non-profit Boston New Music Initiative. • www.kirstenvolness.com