Café Staff
The Café Project Team consists of the Project Director and a Site Coordinator for each of the four towns, a science consultant, web developer and a college coordinator. The Site Coordinators have the critical responsibility for working with and supporting the local members of the Youth Leadership Team to facilitate the logistics needed to ensure successful Café meetings, fostering an active program of recruiting and outreach, and maintaining effective communications. They work closely with each other and the project director to enable close coordination among the activities in the four towns. The Science Consultant will help interested students to produce Café-related follow-up products that are substantive, well-crafted, and scientifically valid, will work with the Café scientist-presenters to develop personalized bios and engaging essays that will anchor the Café session and the projects that unfold from them, and will continue to work with the presenters to engage them in follow-up activities with the students and in the Café-related blogs. The college coordinator works with local colleges to recruit undergraduate mentors. Members of the Project Team are:
Michelle Hall Project Director and Los Alamos Site Coordinator
Michelle is a geophysicist and science educator who has worked in both industry and academia. Her company promotes science and technology literacy. The company has program development and management expertise in scientist-teacher partnerships, curriculum development, K-16 teacher professional development and experience providing science research experiences for science teachers and students. When not working she enjoys running, reading and cooking.
Felice Gurule Site Coordinator, Española
Felice works with the Northern New Mexico GEAR UP/EnLACE Collaborative with students from Española Valley High, Pojoaque Valley High and Capitol High. GEAR UP stands for Gaining Early Awareness & Readiness for Undergraduate Programs. EnLACE stands for Engaging Latinos Communities for Education. She works strongly with the parents and students to provide educational materials, workshops, Parent Centers, and tutoring services. She is currently working towards a Degree through New Mexico Highlands University in Elementary Education/History K-8. She is an active single parent with two sons, one of which is in the 1st grade and the other who is in the 7th grade. Felice has worked in the classroom since 1993, 21st Century Assistant Coordinator , AVID Teacher/Tutor/Trainer and spends most of her free time volunteering at her sons' schools.
Michael Mayhew Science Consultant.
Following early career phases in academia and at NASA, Mike spent many years as a program manager in geophysics—and later geoscience education--at the National Science Foundation. His chief interest is in fostering public understanding of science. He travels regularly to New Mexico from his home in Ocean City, Maryland.
M Sher Dow Site Coordinator, Española & Santa Fe
M has been associated with northern New Mexico for the last seventeen years and has had her home here for eight of the last nine years where she is homeschooling four children ranging in age from 15 to 5. She has always worked with people as an instructor, a facilitator, in customer service, in management, and in her own businesses. Community involvement is a very important part of her life and has included being an American Red Cross Instructor and Instructor Trainer, a 4-H leader, a Wildlife Steward, and a Master Recycler. She is passionate about working with people, especially youth, to promote the ways and means to health and wellness for individuals and the planet.
Linsey Sandoval Site Coordinator, Albuquerque
Linsey Sandoval is a transplant to Albuquerque having grown up in San Diego. Linsey has a Bachelors of Science in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behaviors from the University of California at Davis. There she cut up and shot electrons at eyeballs in a research lab. She moved from Davis to Los Alamos in order to perform biochemistry research in a more picturesque setting...however, she was called to the outdoors by the sunshine and her now husband. This lead to her current profession as a professional cyclist. Her great fondness for science and desire to increase interest in the subject matter continues. In order to keep herself occupied when she isn't contemplating radial momentum while on the road, she enjoys dabbling with chemistry in the kitchen, battling entropy in the household and preparing flash cards for her husband, a medical student at UNM.
Crystal Ray Web Designer
Crystal is currently a student and her interests are always changing. One day, she’s interested in Engineering. Another day, in architecture and yet another day, in writing. After so much time, She's still trying to make up her mind. Perhaps an Engi-architect-writer? Maybe someday, she'll finally decide. But for now, she's having fun learning web design and development – a little hobby she picked up in her freshman year at MIT and enjoys doing from time to time.
You can contact the Café Scientifique using our online form or at the address below.
Café Scientifique
c/o Science Education Solutions
4200 W Jemez Rd, Suite 301
Los Alamos, NM 87544
505-663-5365
