Dr. Jayatri Das is Director of Science Content and Chief Bioscientist at The Franklin Institute and an invited Fellow of the Center for Neuroscience & Society at the University of Pennsylvania. She has led development of several exhibitions at the Institute—including Your Brain, a national award-winning exhibit about the neuroscience and psychology of the human brain, and SportsZone—and directs in-person and virtual programming initiatives to advance informal science education about materials science, nanotechnology, neuroethics and other areas of emerging science and their societal impact. She also serves as an advisor to the National Informal STEM Education (NISE) Network. Das earned undergraduate degrees in biology and biochemistry from Penn State and a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from Princeton University. Prior to joining The Franklin Institute, she conducted postdoctoral work at both the Koshland Science Museum and the University of Pennsylvania. Her work in the museum field has been honored with the American Alliance of Museums’ Nancy Hanks Award for Professional Excellence.
Dr. Julie Sedivy is a language scientist and writer. She spent 12 years as a faculty member with an active lab in the Department of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences at Brown University. For the past decade, she has devoted most of her time to writing and editing work ranging from popular science writing, blogs, and literary essays. She is also the author of an undergraduate textbook about psycholinguistics. Her fourth and most recent book, Memory Speaks, blends memoir and science writing, and she is currently at work on a book of literary essays about language. In addition to her writing, she regularly gives talks about language science to non-academic audiences, and she is a frequent guest on podcasts and public radio programs.
Dr. Andrea Beltrama (moderator) is a MindCORE postdoctoral fellow, primarily affiliated with the Linguistics Department. His work investigates how people assemble and exchange meaning when they use language. He has a special interest in exploring the dynamics whereby specific words affect the meaning of sentences and utterances; the processes enabling interlocutors to exchange different types of information; and the relationship between meaning interpretation and other activities that are central to human communication — such as building common ground, negotiating social identity and expressing agreement or disagreement.