Mission Statement:
Our tagline is “exploring stories of human curiosity”. We want to make science more accessible and less intimidating. We feel the best way to humanize the “scientist” is to share stories that include scientists’ backgrounds, humor, and struggles as well as their work.
Host & Executive Productor: Dr. Regina G. Barber (she/her/hers)
Regina’s childhood was divided between living in Lynden, WA and several summers in Southern California. She attended Western Washington University (WWU) for her undergraduate education and completed her PhD in Physics in 2011 from Washington State University (WSU) with a focus in Astrophysics, studying globular cluster systems.
Dr. Regina G. Barber (DeGraaff) currently teaches physics, astronomy and science communication at WWU where she is also the STEM Inclusion and Outreach Specialist and strives to make science accessible to all.
Spark Science Crew:
Suzanne Blais – Co-creator, Director, Producer & Master Editor – Suzanne has worked at WWU for almost a decade and is the Manager of Digital Media Production and Development. She has over 30 years of media and teaching experience.
Julia Thorpe – Audio Engineer
Zerach Coakley- Audio Engineer
Erin Howard – Audio Assistant & Web support
Ariel Shiley – Audio Assistant
Past Crew Members:
Nathan Chapman (He/His/Him) – Student Lead Blogger (Season 5)
Sarah Francis (she/her/hers) – Graduate Student Blogger (Season 5)
Andra Nordin (she/her/hers) – Audio Engineer & Social Media Assistant (Season 5)
Natalie Moore (She/Her/Hers) – Chief Audio Engineer & Assistant Producer (Season 3&4)
Jonathan Flynn (He/His/Him) – Student Reporter and Blogger (Season 4)
Tori Highley (she/her/hers) – Production Assistant & Audio Engineer (Season 3&4)
Lia Cook – Web design and Social Media (Season 2&3)
Nathan Miller – Audio Engineer (Season 2)
Erik Faburrietta – Chief Audio Engineer (Season 1 & 2)
(Season 1-3) Co-host: Jordan Baker *He will return for one-off episodes in the future
Jordan grew up in Lynden but calls Bellingham home now. He started taking improv classes at the Upfront Theatre in January 2013 because his wife made him (he loves it now). With no high school diploma or self-esteem, he found himself in the service industry cutting up dead animals for a living for a decade but is now in the home inspection business. Jordan is Main Stage alumni at the Upfront in Bellingham, WA.
The image below is of Regina and Jordan in Lynden Middle School (eighth grade) in the early 90s’.
