Astrophysicist Jeff Zweerink is a research scholar at Reasons to Believe. He earned a PhD in astrophysics from Iowa State University. His writing and speaking encourage people to consider the connection between Scripture’s truth and scientific evidence. He is the author of Escaping the Beginning?, Is There Life Out There?, and Who’s Afraid of the Multiverse?, and coauthor of the Impact Events student devotional series. Jeff also is a project scientist at UCLA.

Jonathan Fowler is a practitioner and scholar in big data analytics, data culture, and data strategy. He is specifically interested in the relationship of data subculture archetypes (Collaborate/Compete/Create/Control) to analytics maturity in organizations. Jonathan is the creator of the LDIS+™ framework, which examines this phenomenon and gives companies the roadmap to harnessing it for business success.

As a consultant and instructor, Dr. Fowler has a demonstrated history of working in a variety of environments. His competencies include Big Data, statistical methods, machine learning, database design, data warehousing, ETL, master data management, and data integration.  Jonathan earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Clemson University and received his Doctor of Computer Science (D.C.Sc.) from Colorado Technical University.

Jocelyn Jones has been an acting teacher for over thirty years. From A-list movie stars to hand-picked beginners, Ms. Jones is known for offering insights and techniques that enhance her clients' confidence; provide consistent, inspirational results; and guide them to their own unique perspectives. Her memoir is a blueprint for awakening and connecting to the spirit within—the Artist, capable of manifesting anything.

When he was 25 years old, Jacob McLaughlin moved from being an athletic trainer to a surgical sales representative for one of the top medical device companies in the world. He used some traditional techniques for breaking in, but also some that were very non-traditional, including documenting his journey in his podcast, New to Medical Device Sales and his presence on YouTube, TikToK and Instagram. In this episode Jacob shares the similarities and differences between athletic training and medical device sales, advanced networking techniques, what the interview process is like from a candidate’s perspective, how to make yourself stand out, what 99% of candidates don’t do, and what the first year in medical device sales is like.

I am a special education teacher and mother of three. I have advocated for families with children who have special needs to ensure that they receive special education services that they require in for them to be appropriately facilitated at their home school district. I created a website to help students as they navigate their way back into the in person educational settings. The website is entitled Acorntotree and it offers free academic and recreational support for children and families.

My name is Eric Mariasis and I have been working full-time as a software engineer for almost 10 years. My formal background and schooling is in Computer Science with a focus in engineering (basically it just means that I also took standard engineering courses such as Chemistry, Physics and Calculus).

Career wise my day jobs have all been at large companies with at least a several thousand employees. One company I worked at for the majority of my career and around the beginning of COVID I switched to working for my current company. The software tools I focused on earlier in my career were mainly the C++ and MATLAB programming languages along with some Perl and Jenkins which is a tool to run code scripts automatically. Then I shifted to working primarily in Java with REST APIs which I do currently. I have also been something called a Scrum Master

I also am working on a Master's degree in Data Science which I'm almost 80% of the way through, and I independently tutor programming as well as math. There can sometimes be a high barrier to entry to become a programmer or software engineer and part of what I hope to do through tutoring and mentorship is to help people have an easier time breaking into the field. In addition to software engineering I could speak about the topics of earning side income through your own business and about working on a Master's degree while working full-time.

Thomas "Buddy" Bardenwerper served for five years as a US Coast Guard officer in Maine, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC. He sailed the waters from Canada to Colombia enforcing commercial fisheries laws, interdicting cocaine smugglers, and repatriating migrants. He participated in the Hurricane María response and played a crucial role in helping rescue 511 people from the burning Motor Vessel CARIBBEAN FANTASY.

Then, in 2017, his life changed.

Buddy was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, and his days in the Coast Guard became numbered. No longer permitted to set sail with his San Juan, Puerto Rico-based cutter, Buddy found himself confined to a cubicle as he waited for his medical retirement papers to clear. 

Wanting to finish this chapter of his life on his own terms and brimming with stories to tell from his maritime experiences, Buddy began to write. Shortly thereafter, Mona Passage: A Novel was born. 

In 2019,  Syracuse University Press hosted its inaugural Veterans Writing Award, and novelist Tobias Wolff selected Mona Passage for publication.

Thanks to the GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon Program, Buddy is in his last year of a joint law and public policy degree at Harvard. When he graduates this spring, Buddy will be moving with his wife and daughter to Miami where he will serve as a judicial law clerk.
 

Laurie Singer is a licensed marriage and family therapist, board-certified in applied behavior analysis, who leads the successful, Camarillo, CA-based Laurie Singer Behavioral Services, Inc.

Motivated by her own personal tragedy, Laurie has devoted her life to the field of mental health with a clear vision in mind: to create a team approach for helping individuals resolve behavioral and other mental health issues by applying a unique combination of behavioral and cognitive behavioral therapies.

Her first book, released in April, 2021, is titled "You're Not Crazy: Living with Anxiety, Obsessions and Fetishes.” Using case studies from her successful practice, delivered in a digestible, narrative format and including worksheets designed for the individual to take control of their lives, the book's goal is to help those who suffer deeply from anxiety and mental health concerns. Particularly those which have been exacerbated by the devastating pandemic.

Laurie earned her post-graduate certification in Applied Behavioral Analysis from Kaplan University. She began her college studies at Oxnard College and at UCLA, and completed her undergraduate degree at UCSB. She received her masters from Cal State Northridge in Educational Psychology and proceeded to earn a license in Marriage and Family Therapy. Laurie has been a practicing Behavioral Specialist since 1995 and in private practice since 2004.

Laurie is also an endurance athlete, having made running 100-mile races nearly routine and completing 28 ultra-marathons of 31 miles or longer. She’s a 3-time Ironman competitor and in 2017 was recognized for her accomplishments as an inductee into the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame.

Since losing her two-year-old son Jacob Singer to cancer in 1987, she has coordinated an annual fun run and fundraiser (Jacob’s Run) in support of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles’s Child Life Program, which provides playrooms and support for patients and their families. To date, more than $350,000 has been raised in support.