Our Team

talkSTEM Team

talkSTEM-Team
Founder and CEO of talkSTEM

Dr. Koshi Dhingra

talkSTEM-Team_23GlenNEW
walkSTEM Advisor and Founder, National Museum of Mathematics

Dr. Glen Whitney

BenFeinstein biophoto
Project Coordinator

Benjamin Feinstein

talkSTEM-Team
Web/Graphic Designer

Jenn Savage

talkSTEM-Team
Filmmaker/Editor

Xandy Smith

talkSTEM-Team_22Julie
Illustrator

Julie McLaughlin

Founder and CEO of talkSTEM

Dr. Koshi Dhingra

Koshi Dhingra received an undergraduate degree from the National University of Singapore and a Doctorate in Science Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research focused on connecting formal and informal educational opportunities for over 20 years. She has years of experience teaching at the middle and high school levels, and in teacher education programs. She previously served as a director of the Science and Engineering Education Center at the University of Texas at Dallas. Following this, she founded talkSTEM in Spring, 2015.

walkSTEM Advisor and Founder, National Museum of Mathematics

Dr. Glen Whitney

Glen Whitney is walkSTEM Program Advisor for talkSTEM. He is passionate about every aspect of public mathematics – engagement, appreciation, and informal learning. Whitney studied mathematical logic for his Ph.D. (UCLA 1994). He served on the faculty of the University of Michigan and subsequently became an applied mathematician at the quantitative hedge fund, Renaissance Technologies. In 2008, he left Renaissance and founded the National Museum of Mathematics in New York City. To help generate enthusiasm for the museum, Whitney led his first math walk in 2009, and has been creating new ones ever since. The museum opened its doors to the public in December 2012 and has welcomed over a million visitors. Whitney has continued his work both in public mathematics engagement and in the museum world since then, spending time as visiting faculty at Harvard, ICERM, and the Museum of Food and Drink. Lately, his scholarly interests have been in algebra related to knot theory, with two recent publications on quandles.

Project Coordinator

Benjamin Feinstein

Benjamin Feinstein is an editor and graphic designer with over ten years of professional experience, as well as a Neuroscience graduate of Middlebury College specializing in color perception and sensory integration. He enjoys exploring the intersections of art and science, and observing how each can be informed and expanded upon by the other. To view more of his freelance graphic work, visit benjaminfeinstein.myportfolio.com.

Web/Graphic Designer

Jenn Savage

Jenn Savage holds a B.F.A. in Advertising Design from the Art Institute of Dallas, where she also worked as a mathematics tutor to encourage students to understand and enjoy the intersections of math and art. She began work as a freelance graphic designer in 2010, and has worked with many clients in the non-profit sector over the course of her career. Jenn owns Awkward Robot, a visual design studio.

Filmmaker/Editor

Xandy Smith

Xandy sees the world through a viewfinder, and one with a STEM lens. A lover of science (especially paleontology) and with a background in illustration and graphic design, film is a perfect blend of technology and organic creativity. He’s both born and married into a family of teachers—his mother, wife, mother-in-law, the list goes on—and with credentials from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, education and art is clearly a passion. He is excited to bring his professional experience in high-end commercial and narrative filmmaking to the many facets of talkSTEM.

Illustrator

Julie McLaughlin

Julie McLaughlin is a freelance illustrator whose work includes commissions for editorial, advertising, and publishing clients from around the world. Her works have been nominated for several awards, including the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction, which she won for Why We Live Where We Live by Kira Vermond in 2015. Julie grew up on the prairies and now resides in Victoria, BC, Canada. You can view the maps that Julie created for talkSTEM here.

For more information visit www.whatwouldjuliedraw.com.


talkSTEM Fellows

talkSTEM Fellows are graduate students in STEAM disciplines, classroom educators, or out of school educators who are leaders in the talkSTEM community. They provide valuable feedback and insights to the talkSTEM team and our growing community.

photo: Middle School Educational Fellows
photo: 2023 Teacher Fellows