DIRECTORS

Loren Thompson, Festival Community Outreach Director
Dr. Loren Thompson is the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Educational Advancement at UC San Diego in the division of Student Affairs. A former high school teacher from Phoenix, he has also served as a faculty member or administrator at the University of Houston, Miami University of Ohio, Washington State University, and the University of Texas at San Antonio. His responsibilities also include oversight of UC San Diego’s academic support operations and many of its undergraduate research programs, which prepare students for graduate or professional school. As Festival Community Outreach Director for SDSF, Loren drives the vision of the Festival to promote science through collaborative efforts across San Diego organizations. He heads many of UC San Diego's pre-college academic preparation initiatives, including the Hughes Scholars Program, Early Academic Outreach Program, and American Indian I’m Going to College Program, a collaboration with the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association.

Since coming to UC San Diego in 1999, Dr. Thompson has been the author, co-author, or principal investigator on over $50 million in grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and U.S. Department of Education. Over $45 million of these grants are currently active, including the recently awarded National Science Festival Network Program that is helping to fund the San Diego Science Festival, about which Dr. Thompson will be speaking today.  


Jeremy Babendure, Festival Educational Outreach Director
Jeremy Babendure, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Pharmacy at UC San Diego. He directs the UCSD BioBridge teacher professional development program currently operating in partnering districts, a program geared toward linking the science and education communities. Dr. Babendure is also principle author and PI/co-PI on numerous grants in partner districts (e.g., GK-12, ITEST, Department of Education FIPSE, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Pre-College Science Education). Dr. Babendure studied under recent Nobel laureate Roger Tsien, designing molecular sensors for RNA.

Dr. Babendure’s primary role is to direct all of the Festival's school-related programs, guide collaborative educational opportunities, and support year-round events related to the San Diego Science Festival and National Science Festival Network. He leads efforts in programs such as Nifty Fifty, Scientist in Residence, and building relationships between science professionals, educators, and administrators in the Festival network. Jeremy holds a PhD in biomedical sciences and biotechnology from UC San Diego. He is a Flinn Scholar and a member of the Arizona BioIndustry Association.

OPERATIONS

Allison Rynne, Festival and Expo Day Director
Allison Rynne is co-owner of Audacity Events, a boutique event firm specializing in the orchestration of large-scale events, including tactical planning, sponsorship coordination, event permitting, and event management. Most notably, Allison is the Development Manager for Balboa Park December Nights. As the largest free festival in Southern California, Balboa Park December Nights draws over 325,000 people. Allison works to maintain a balance in celebrating the traditions of the event and bringing forth new ideas to generate revenue and interest. Through the development of targeted sponsor relationships, Allison creates mutually beneficial opportunities for both the event and its partners.

Allison will be working with the SDSF team to expand and refine the event plan that began with the inaugural San Diego Science Festival. Allison is responsible for logistics, scheduling, permitting, and sponsorships. Her main focus is the logistics behind the Science Expo on April 4, 2009. Allison has a BS in biological anthropology from UCSD. She is a member of the LEAD Impact Class of 2010 and a board member for Balboa Park Central.


A Kovacs, Community Coordinator
A Kovacs is co-owner of Audacity Events, a boutique event firm specializing in the orchestration of large-scale events, including tactical planning, sponsorship coordination, event permitting, and event management. A is a PMP-certified project manager, with 13 years experience managing everything from exclusive events for less than 10 people to global projects involving 17 countries and a staff of 57. She has planned many meetings for the pharmaceutical industry covering various needs, including training, team building, and celebratory events. She also worked as the Meeting Manager for The Amaz!ng Meeting 7, a conference on critical thinking in Las Vegas.  
Currently, A is helping build the San Diego Science Festival brand with Allison, and is a grassroots proponent of building communities through social media. A volunteers in several women-forward and science-oriented organizations in San Diego. She has a BS in chemistry with a minor in biology and a BA in theater with a minor in English literature from Southeast Missouri State University.   


Nancy Taylor, K–12 Program Coordinator
Ms. Taylor serves as the K–12 Science Coordinator at the San Diego Office of Education, running science professional development programs for K–12 in-service teachers. She also serves as the Executive Director of the San Diego Science Alliance, a nonprofit 501c3 organization. She leads, authors, and co-directs programs and publications that reach over 500,000 teachers and students in San Diego County and California. Ms. Taylor is a co-principal investigator on an NSF Cyber Infrastructure program and has been a Co-PI on other NSF-funded initiatives. Previously, she has served as a regional director for an NSF-funded state system initiative in science, an elementary school principal, and has taught courses in teacher education at San Diego State University, University of California Irvine, San Diego State University, and Point Loma College.     

Ms. Taylor has built a large network of professional educators, education researchers, and collaborators from the science and engineering communities, who lead the way to improve science education for kindergarten through university in San Diego County. She serves on several local boards, including the BIOCOM Institute, and was instrumental in developing the San Diego Science Festival, 2009. 

MARKETING AND MEDIA

Jessica McKimmie, Festival Marketing Director
Jessica is Founder and “Chancellor” of Sneaker Academy, the marketing and public relations agency for the San Diego Science Festival. Sneaker Academy develops and maintains all Festival branding and marketing, including logo and Web design, online and offline advertising efforts, public relations, media partnerships, and social networking. In the Festival’s first year, participation soared, partially due to Sneaker Academy’s cohesive Festival branding and public relations efforts. Over fifteen news segments were recorded, along with dozens of print and online articles highlighting Festival activities.

While Sneaker Academy builds branding campaigns across a large range of industries, its nonprofit and educational niche is quickly growing. Local nonprofit clients include CSU, San Diego Science Alliance, National Science Festival Network, and The Jenna Druck Foundation. Jessica graduated from San Francisco State University with a BS in business management and has since been helping entrepreneurs and nonprofits across the country.

DEVELOPMENT

Kim Signoret-Paar, CFRE, Festival Development Director
Ms. Signoret-Paar is Director of Development for Student Affairs, UC San Diego. She has worked in fundraising in San Diego for 20 years. With a journalism degree from the University of Iowa, she worked ten years in public relations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Mexico City. She is a member and past chair of the San Diego French-American School Board of Trustees.