SciAccess 2019 Team
The Science Accessibility Conference
Anna Voelker is the conference director for the 2019 Science Accessibility Conference. Anna is the Astronomy Accessibility Program Coordinator at The Ohio State University and the Chair of the Astronomers Without Borders Accessibility and Inclusion Working Group. She is organizing SciAccess thanks to the support of The Ohio State University President’s Prize, an award that she received in 2018. Anna is passionate about accessibility and educational equity. She is thrilled to use SciAccess as an opportunity to promote disability inclusion and diversity in the STEM fields. Previously, Anna was a visiting fellow at the International Astronomical Union's Office of Astronomy for Development, headquartered at the South African Astronomical Observatory. She is also a Brooke Owens Fellow and has worked at a variety of space science institutions, including NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Kennedy Space Center, the Space Telescope Science Institute, and the Aerospace Corporation.
Hariz Faesol, Program Assistant, is an undergraduate senior at OSU Max M. Fisher College of Business, specializing in Economics. Born and raised in Ipoh, Malaysia, Hariz has been actively involved in promoting the education and career opportunities for students in the U.S. He is the former Finance Director for East Coast Presidential Council and the current Finance Director (North America chapter) for International Council of Malaysian Scholars & Associates. In college, he has been involved with several leadership programs and was one of 31 students selected to be in the school's first summer Dean's Leadership Academy. Currently, he is one of 24 cohort members in Global Leadership Initiative, serving in the Human Rights group under Office of International Affairs.
Tanvi Brar, Program Assistant, is a first-year, undergraduate student at The Ohio State University. She is pursuing a major in biochemistry, with hopes of attending medical school in the future. She is originally from Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, and graduated from Beechwood High School. Apart from working with SciAccess, she is also involved with the Honors Community Council, ENCompass, and conducts research in the OSU Medical Center.
Professor John Beacom, Faculty Advisor, is an internationally known researcher in physics and astronomy, a popular teacher of introductory courses, and a leader in bringing the excitement of science to the public. He is the faculty advisor for Anna Voelker and her SciAccess work through the Ohio State President’s Prize. At Ohio State, he is College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor, Henry L. Cox Professor of Physics and of Astronomy, and Director of the Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP). John is a longtime, active proponent of increasing public appreciation of science as well as broadening the participation of underrepresented groups, through both his own work and his institutional roles. His 2015 TEDx OSU talk can be found here.