Iowa Team

Kaitlin Higgins is currently pursuing a PhD in Genetics and Genomics, specializing in Plant Predictive Phenomics at Iowa State University. She is a lifelong resident of Iowa, and co-founded Science Iowa. She is passionate about science policy and hopes to help legislators be more informed.

Dan Chibnall is the STEM Librarian at Drake University in Des Moines, IA. Dan works closely with science faculty and students on research projects, teaching strategies, and outreach efforts to the local K-12 community. Dan also teaches courses at Drake focused on science communication, information behaviors, and the relationship between science and science fiction. He also volunteers to help with astronomy events and projects at the Science Center of Iowa.

Thomas R. O'Donnell is science media editor for a nonprofit in Ames, Iowa that manages programs for the U.S. Department of Energy. He previously worked for several newspapers in Iowa, including nearly 16 years at the Des Moines Register, the state's largest daily. His last position there was medicine and science reporter. He later freelanced for a number of clients, including the Plant Sciences Institute at Iowa State University and the Iowa Biotechnology Association. He is coauthor with Bryan Berg of the 2003 book "Stacking the Deck" from Fireside Books. O'Donnell is an ISU graduate and was a newspaper management fellow at the Modern Media Institute, now the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.