Alex Wolf

Founder, na2ure

Alex is a RISD artist/designer/inventor, who created the patternABC, along with other visual systems for understanding spatial relations and how nature grows, which are used from preschool (UNICEF) to PhD and AI (NASA). She co-chairs the Natural Systems Working Group at INCOSE, is an external collaborator at NASA, and wrote a chapter in the first textbook on Biomimicry.

Trina Clemans

Director of Economic and Entrepreneurship Education, Collegiate School, Richmond, Virginia

Trina’s diverse career path follows a common thread – a deep curiosity about people and complex systems coupled with a propensity to make and create. It began in the studios of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and transitioned to international advertising agencies, a university art school and consulting work throughout the United States and Europe. Currently, Trina co-creates and integrates JK-12 curriculum that supports student agency and competency building in economics and entrepreneurial thinking as well as researches the emergence of Collegiate School’s Portrait of a Graduate traits.

David H. Uttal

Professor of Psychology and Education, Northwestern University

David holds a doctorate in developmental psychology from the University of Michigan, and he is the author of over 100 articles and book chapters. His research interests are in the development of children’s thinking, with a focus on symbolic and spatial reasoning, and his work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Institute of Education Sciences. At Northwestern he directs the multidisciplinary program in education sciences, which trains graduate students from different disciplines to conduct rigorous research in educational contexts. 

Vijal Parikh

Nature, Co-Founder Licensed Medical Doctor Practicing Psychiatrist

Vijal is a psychiatrist with a private practice and consulting for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for New York City. As a fellow of the Columbia Public Psychiatry Fellowship, he works in public sector mental health and its roots in poor programs for children. As co-founder at na2ure, he is dedicated to solutions which promote children’s healthy learning.

Daniel Bartels

Director of STEAM and Robotics Program Leader, Collegiate School, Richmond, Virginia

Daniel is an experienced STEM education coordinator with a demonstrated history of working in the primary and secondary education industry. Skilled in Science Education, Secondary Education, Classroom Management, Lesson Planning, Educational Technology, and community engagement, Daniel is an award-winning education professional with a MA focused in Integrative STEM Education from Virginia Tech.

Herbert P. Ginsburg, Ph.D.

Jacob H. Schiff Foundation Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University

Herbert P. Ginsburg, Ph.D., conducted basic research on the development of mathematical thinking, with particular attention to young children, disadvantaged populations, and cultural similarities and differences. He has drawn on cognitive developmental psychology to develop a variety of materials for young children, including a mathematics curriculum (Big Math for Little Kids), storybooks, both traditional and digital, tests of mathematical thinking, computer based assessment systems, and math software. With colleagues in the DREME (Development and Research in Early Mathematics Education) consortium, he is currently creating materials, video-based and other, to help teachers, parents, and students in higher education to gain insight into children’s mathematical thinking and how knowledge of it can serve as the foundation for early mathematics education. He holds a B.A. from Harvard University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.