Melanie Dreyer-Lude is chair of the Department of Drama at the University of Alberta. She specializes in international theater collaboration, using as a laboratory to explore cross-disciplinary opportunities. Her research has included work in Germany, Turkey, Uganda, Russia, Chile, and the United States. Fluent in German, Dreyer-Lude translates and directs contemporary German plays, which have been published and produced in the United States and Canada. Itai Cohen is a Professor of Physics at Cornell University, where he works on materials in motion. His research topics have ranged from studying the behavior of shear thickening fluids like corn-starch, to the flight of insects, to microscale robots, and the behaviors of crowds. Professor Cohen has given over 250 invited public, conference, and departmental speaking engagements. He has chaired the American Physical Society Forum on Outreach and Engaging the Public (FOEP), and organized numerous professional development workshops on science communication.
Dreyer Lude and Cohen are the organizers and instructors of the popular Finding Your Scientific Voice workshop, which has been run at various venues including Cornell University, SUNY Upstate, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the APS March Meeting.