Our Team
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Beth Osnes
Beth Osnes PhD, is a Professor of Theatre and Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado. She is co-founder of SPEAK and Inside the Greenhouse. She recently toured her original new musical Shine to select cities that are a part of the Rockefeller Foundation 100 Resilient Cities Initiative. Her most recent books include Performance for Resilience: Engaging Youth on Energy and Climate through Music, Movement, and Theatre (Palgrave), and Theatre for Women’s Participation in Sustainable Development (Routledge).
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Rebecca Safran
Rebecca Safran PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado. She is co-founder of Inside the Greenhouse, a climate change communication initiative. As an evolutionary biologist, her interests are focused on the process of biodiversity evolution. In particular, she works at the interface of fine-scale within-population dynamics and their consequences across closely related populations with a focus on one of the most widely distributed animals on earth: the barn swallow. Becca's lab group works on a variety of projects related to the physiological, behavioral and ecological and climate factors that influence genomic divergence among closely related populations. She annually teaches a course on science communication that is focused on translating climate change science into creative, short films. She is passionate about inclusion and belonging in STEM.
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Chelsea Hackett
Chelsea Hackett PhD, is a facilitator, researcher, and creative consultant. She is co-founder of SPEAK, an approach towards vocal empowerment for women. She completed her doctorate in Educational Theatre at NYU and has worked over ten years as a teaching artist, professional development coach, and curriculum writer specializing in programming for young women and girls. In addition, she is a performer, writer, and director, working around the world, using the power of creative play to build collective meaning and engage in critical conversations.
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Sam Collier
Sam Collier is a PhD student in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Colorado, where she studies theater about climate change. Sam is a playwright and poet and has taught writing for young people of all ages. She holds an MFA in playwriting from the University of Iowa Playwrights Workshop and is a co-host of the playwriting podcast Beckett’s Babies.
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Avani Fachon
Avani Fachon is a National Science Foundation Post-Baccalaureate Fellow in the Safran Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder. She holds an undergraduate degree in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, with a minor in Media Production. She is interested in the intersection of ecological research and media-making; her honors thesis project, Rituals of this Good Earth, explores barn swallow-human interconnections through a multimedia, interactive website. Avani is excited to participate in projects, such as Side by Side, which unite the practices of ecological research, storytelling, and media production to inspire action towards a future which is looking up.
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Sara Garcia
Sara Garcia is a PhD student of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado. She is interested in studying the adaptations of barn swallows across the urban-rural gradient. Sara holds a bachelors in Biology and English from the College of Wooster where she studied invertebrate visual ecology and creative writing. She was an AmeriCorps volunteer in Chicago intercity high-schools where she taught and tutored STEM and English classes. Sara is a current reader and previous editor for The Dodge Magazine. She is excited to explore the interdisciplinary spaces and cosmic threads that connect and bind us all.
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Grant Gonzalez
Grant Gonzalez is an undergraduate student at Red Rocks Community College currently working on his Associate’s of Biology and Associate’s of Psychology. Outside of school, he is a pre-professional ballet dancer within the transitional stage from student to professional. By utilizing his artistic perspective and academic perspective, he aims to develop and promote a more holistic understanding of the natural world and the species that reside within it. Grant’s research focuses on integrating the performing arts into STEM spaces to explore the potential that this medley has to offer. His work with Side-by-Side has been particularly influential in cultivating his mission statement, which focuses on ensuring all individuals that they belong in STEM.
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Heather Kenny-Duddela
Heather Kenny-Duddela, MSc, is a PhD student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado where she studies barn swallow behavior and ecology. Her current research explores how variation in mating behavior and movement patterns of individual barn swallows contribute to feather color variation of swallows in Colorado. Heather is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and holds a Master of Science from the College of William & Mary. She is excited to participate in art + science collaborations that spark joy and foster a sense of connection with nature.
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Molly McDermott
Molly McDermott PhD, studies interactions between environmental conditions and sexual selection in migratory songbirds. For her PhD research, she tracked individual barn swallows – familiar farm residents across much of North America - to measure how nutrition and stress affect plumage traits and breeding performance. Previously, she studied how climate-driven vegetation change in the Arctic may impact insect communities and the songbirds that depend on them for food. In addition to her biological interests, she is a musician interested in communicating scientific information via creative disciplines.
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Ben Stasny
Ben Stasny is an incoming PhD student in Theatre and Performance Studies. Ben uses he/bev pronouns, the latter is Ben’s own creation as he/bev explores and interrogates gender identity. Ben is interested in the nexus of theatre, queerness and ecology. Ben’s MA thesis addresses this nexus through a narrative research analysis of a play bev directed in the fall called Mentoring Session #4. After having spent most of his life as an actor in theatre ranging from Off-Broadway to cruise ships to regional theatre, barns, basements, churches, schools and everywhere in between, Ben now feels compelled to interact with theatre in new ways as both a practitioner and scholar.
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Graydon Hidalgo
Graydon Hidalgo is a Queer, non-binary, and Hispanic PhD student in the Safran Lab studying barn swallow genetics and migration. While they have 10 years of experience working as a field ornithologist, Gray strives for an interdisciplinary approach to everything they do. Gray is determined to break down the systems that prevent marginalized students from exceeding in STEM fields. They believe that the foundation of solving scientific questions lies in cultivating a diverse and supportive environment for all. As a child, Gray collected bird puppets and used them to educate their fellow students in elementary school. Today, they are ecstatic to contribute to the work of Side by Side by designing curriculum using a range of artistic mediums.
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Ellory Boyd
Ellory Boyd is a fourth year student currently earning a bachelor's degree in Ethnic Studies at The University of Colorado Boulder. Their own interests span multiple disciplines, which is why they were attracted to the Side by Side project’s mixture of visual art, theater, education, and biology. In all their work, Ellory remains committed to justice and is excited to be involved in working creatively to bring more marginalized voices into STEM related fields. Aside from their work with Side by Side, Ellory is currently serving as the Outreach Coordinator for the INVST Community Studies program in the School of Education at CU. They also work as a research assistant in Amy Voida’s Philanthropic Informatics lab in the CU Information Science department.