TEACHERS IN SPACE - Key Persons
Carol Pinchefsky is a freelance writer who has written for Forbes.com, IT World, Syfy Wire, The New York Times, and many other publications. She lives in New York City with her husband and their collection of books.
Job Titles:
- Board of Directors
- Member of the National Science Teaching Association
Chris has a bachelor's degree in plant science and agriculture from SUNY Cobleskill and a master's degree in elementary education from the College of Saint Rose. He currently teaches living environment and high school Earth science at Gloversville Enlarged School District in upstate New York.
After joining a suborbital workshop through Teachers in Space in 2012, Chris has established a high-altitude balloon program with his students and local agencies. The High-Altitude Achievement program has successfully launched and recovered balloons carrying student payloads from various schools for over three years.
Since 2015, the club has represented TIS at the World Science Festival annually. Chris and one of his students participated in the first TIS ground crew in Minden, NV. They developed payload procedures for the student experiments, which flew on initial flights of the Perlan II stratospheric glider in Argentina in 2016.
Chris is a member of the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA), Science Teachers Association of New York State (STANYS), and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He now serves as the TIS Director of High-Altitude Balloon Operations.
Job Titles:
- Distinguished Teaching Professor, Director
Dr. Robin Kimmerer, Distinguished Teaching Professor, Director, Center for Native Peoples and the Environment at SUNY ESF, and moss expert met with students at Central Square Middle School who are preparing an experiment that will expose moss to the near-space conditions of the Stratosphere. Dr. Kimmerer advised students to focus their experiment on a group of mosses called toxiphiles, lovers of toxic environments. This type of moss is very hardy and could have the best chance living in the harsh environment of the Stratosphere. She also encouraged students to send as many different samples as possible. Students are studying moss as an example of a plant that might one day be used to Terraform Mars, change Mars so that it is like Earth.
Liz Kennick has directed the TIS program since 2011, initially as a project manager for the Space Frontier Foundation (SFF). In 2014, Liz and her management team incorporated TIS as an educational nonprofit organization in the state of New York.
A member of SFF's Board from 2009 to 2013, Liz was formerly the vice president of client technology at Morgan Stanley with a $2M annual budget for 1700 software users. She has degrees in information systems/operations analysis, Education, and English. Liz is also certified as a project management professional and network engineer. Additionally, she is a co-founder of NYC's Software Process Improvement Network and has produced Yuri's Night NY, a space-themed party for 200+ guests, annually since 2008, and TEDxMidTownNY, a space-themed speaker series, from 2010 to 2011.
Liz created the Space Frontier Foundation's Business Plan Bootcamp for the five finalists in the foundation's 2011 Business Plan Competition. Additionally, she was a judge at the 2011 SEDS Student Business Plan Competition. She also created Escape Guesthouse LLC, a boutique bed and breakfast in Brooklyn, NY, in 2006 and sold it for three times the purchase price in 2013.
Liz has flown on ZeroG, experienced centrifuge and hypobaric chamber training, scuba-dived to 70 feet, and climbed Cotopaxi, Earth's highest extinct volcano. She is a frequent speaker on The Invisible World, The Space Show, Rotary Club and TEDx events, and at conferences, such as Space Vision, Project World, New Space, and the International Space Development Conference (ISDC).
Liz has flown on ZeroG, experienced centrifuge and hypobaric chamber training, scuba-dived to 70 feet, and climbed Cotopaxi, Earth's highest extinct volcano. She is a frequent speaker on The Invisible World, The Space Show, Rotary Club and TEDx events, and at conferences, such as Space Vision, Project World, New Space, and the International Space Development Conference (ISDC). Her 2014 TEDx presentation "Gimme Some Space!" is available at
James Kuhl retired from teaching Earth science to 6th-grade students at Central Square Middle School in Central Square, NY, in 2017. Over the years, he has taught various summer STEM classes, including flight science for Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth and Summer of Science (SOS) Maker Movement Class at Cape Cod Community College.
In 1985, Jim applied for the original NASA Teacher in Space program, and he was a finalist for the NASA Educator Astronaut program in 2004. He has received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Education and now serves on the STANYS board of directors.
Jim has conducted numerous workshops at local, state, and national conferences. He has also been published in trade magazines and peer-reviewed journals and consulted on the Master Teacher Board for Pearson's Interactive Science textbook series. Currently, his students are preparing an experiment to fly on the Perlan 2 glider's record-breaking, high-altitude flight.
Joe Latrell is a lifelong avid space enthusiast who created his own rocket company in Roswell, NM, and participated in other consumer space endeavors. With a passion to see the next generation excited about the opportunities of space exploration, he continues to design, build, and launch his rockets.
Joe is an additive manufacturing expert and the designer behind the TIS Cubesat Framekits and Arduino Starter Kits. He is also an experienced website designer and developer and a regular contributing author at www.spaceflightinsider.com.
Joel is a 19 year veteran teacher in New York City high schools. Licensed in Earth Science, he also teaches courses in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Astrobiology. An avid space and model rocketry enthusiast, he has been involved with Teachers in Space since 2012. In that time he has had several flight and space-related experiences, such as attending Space Academy for Educators at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama and participating as a centrifuge test subject on simulated Virgin Galactic flights. He is looking forward to making the goal of Teachers in Space a reality.
Noah holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a focus in management. He has a wide array of skills, with experience in multiple fields. He has worked as a vocational high school math teacher, an ESL teacher in China, a livestock manager at a 270 acre farm, and more.
Noah got started with Teachers in Space as a volunteer in 2017. He helped as an instructor for multiple workshops for teachers in NYC then went on to participate in Teachers in Space's cross-country event tour for the total solar eclipse in Nashville, Tennessee. He transported a mock-up of the Perlan high altitude glider from Reno to Nashville, stopping along the way to teach about various Teachers in Space projects.
In the summer of 2021 Noah was hired by Teachers in Space to be a project manager and help the organization expand and reach more teachers.
Job Titles:
- Senior Partner in Space Future Consulting
Peter Wainwright co-founded the Space Future website with Dr. Patrick Collins in 1997. This powerful website features about 200 papers discussing every aspect of space tourism and other related subjects. Space Future aims to educate students, journalists, enthusiasts, and the public about the real commercial and societal potential of space.
Mr. Wainwright is also a senior partner in Space Future Consulting, an international consultancy group that offers advice and analysis to the space, tourism, and media industries. It was the first in the world to conduct market research about space tourism, and its work has been endorsed extensively by other organizations, including NASA.
Rachael Manzer is a middle school teacher at CREC Academy of Aerospace and Engineering in Windsor, Connecticut. She has been involved in K-12 STEM Education for just over 20 years.Over the course of her career she has received numerous national accolades including the A. Scott Crossfield Aerospace Teacher of the Year Award given by the National Aviation Hall of Fame, Region #1 Magnet School Teacher of the Year given by Magnet Schools of America, National Aerospace Educator of the Year given by the Civil Air Patrol, National Educator Achievement Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Space Educator Award from the National Space Club, and two separate NASA Group Achievement Awards. Rachael Manzer is very active in STEM education in her home state. She serves on the board for both the Connecticut Science Teachers Association and the Connecticut Technology Engineering Association. She has received several state awards including CSTA Science Educator Fellowship Award for "exemplary teaching and service to state science organizations" and CSTA Excellence in Science Teaching Award given to teachers who epitomize the highest ideals of the teaching profession. Rachael Manzer will have the opportunity to achieve her dream of flying into space. She is one of seven teachers selected to fly into space on commercial spacecraft through the Teacher's in Space Program. During the summer and school vacations, you may find Rachael Manzer flying in high performance aerobatic airplanes, working in a neutral buoyancy pool, or taking a ride on the Zero-G plane all in preparation and training for her trip into space. She will be able to use her experience, skills and talents to blaze the trail for educators across the nation explore space, thus exciting a new generation of young adults about space exploration and pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
W. James "Jim" Adams served as the deputy chief technologist in the Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) at NASA from 2012 until retiring in 2016. NASA's OCT is in charge of the direct management of NASA's space technology programs and coordinating and tracking all technology investments across the agency.
Before serving as NASA's deputy chief technologist, Jim was the deputy director of the Planetary Science Division in NASA's Science Mission Directorate. It is responsible for NASA Solar System exploration efforts, including the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Exploration Rover, and New Horizons missions. Jim was in charge of the scheduling, budget, and performance of NASA's planetary missions.
Most recently, Jim served as the project manager for the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS). During his career, he has worked on the design, development, testing, and operations of over 24 launched spacecraft across three scientific disciplines and human spaceflight.