Saint Helena Forum

A conversation about the composition of the universe with Dr. Jason Rhodes and Dr. Alina Kiessling Dr. Rhodes graduated from West Valley high school in Des Moines, Iowa, earned a B.S. in physics from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA and an M.A. and Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University. After stints as a researcher at NASA’s, Goddard, Spaceflight Center in Maryland and at Caltech in Pasadena, he landed a position at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His projects include NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the European Space Agency’s Euclid Mission, and the Vera Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time. All of these are designed to study, “Dark Energy”, the hypothesized cause of the Universe’s accelerated expansion. ​ Dr. Kiessling is a Jet Propulsion Laboratory Research Scientist, investigating Dark Matter and Dark Energy through Weak Lensing Analysis of N-body Simulations. She’s a member of Euclid and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Dark Energy Science Collaboration and was a consultant on NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Science Definition Reports. Alina earned a B.Sc. in Space Science from La Trobe University in Australia and her Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Edinburgh, in the UK.

Join us for a conversation between Mrs. Parks companion and friend, H.H. Leonards and historian - writer Noah Griffin as they explore the legacy of Rosa Parks. Sixty-eight years ago on December 1, 1955, Mrs.Rosa Parks rejected a bus driver's order to leave a row of four seats in the "colored" section and move to the back of the bus. Her defiance and subsequent arrest sparked a successful boycott of buses in Montgomery a few days later; a pivotal event in the civil rights movement that ultimately led to the dismantling of Jim Crow segregation. Mrs. Parks became an icon of the movement, celebrated for this single courageous act of civil disobedience.But as H.H.Leonard writes, "There was much more to Mrs. Parks than the seat she refused to reliquish on "that" bus. By profession she was a seamstress. Her stiching was delicate and precise; she made beautiful clothes. But in the bigger picture, she sewed pieces of people's lives together throughout the world and lifted them up with tenacity, hope, and pure love.

A conversation with Colin Woodard, Director of the Nationhood Lab at Salve Regina University’s Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy. Author of six books including American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America. To watch the video of this episode, go to shforum.com

The Evolution of Laughter. Across many animals, complex social play is well-documented and laughter (scientists use the term play vocalizations), has been reported in sixty-five species. But seriously, why are we all laughing and what is so darn funny?

The James Webb Space Telescope, Planetary Systems, and the Origins of Life with Dr. Stefanie Milam, Deputy Project Scientist For Planetary Science , James Webb Space Telescope. To watch the video of this episode, go to shforum.com

A conversation with Dr. Beth Shapiro about biodiversity, de-extinction, and ethically reinventing nature to save the planet. To watch the video of this episode, go to shforum.com

Dive into the cosmos with Avi Loeb, the esteemed Frank B. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science at Harvard University and a true luminary in astrophysics. With a distinguished career spanning groundbreaking achievements, Loeb has left an indelible mark on the field. Join Doug Barr, Chair of the Saint Helena Forum, in an engaging conversation that delves into the mind of this remarkable scientist and explores the mysteries of the universe. To watch the video of this episode, go to shforum.com

How it’s possible for a dance company founded by a woman born in the 19th century to remain innovative, creative and relevant to an audience born in the 21st?​ Joining the forum was Janet Eilber, former dancer, now Artistic Director of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance and from the company we met principal dancer Xin Ying and soloist Charlotte Landreau and we got to see them dance. ​The discussion was chaired by Douglas Barr, President of the Saint Helena Forum. To watch the video of this episode, go to shforum.com