TEDxOrlando 2010 Conference Presenters

Sharon L. Butler, an artist and writer, maintains an award-winning art blog, Two Coats of Paint, blogs for The Huffington Post, and is a contributing writer at The Brooklyn Rail. She has received several grants, residencies and awards, including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, Pocket Utopia artist residencies, Connecticut Commission on Culture artist fellowship, Blue Mountain Center Artists’ fellowship, and Connecticut State University research grants. In addition, her art work is included in private collections in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Baltimore, Tampa, Philadelphia, Providence, Berlin, London and Kyoto. Butler is an art professor at Eastern Connecticut State University.

Julian C. Chambliss’ wide-ranging interests include urban policy, race and ethnicity, African-American culture and pop culture. His contributions to the community are equally energetic and encompassing: he is teacher, organizer, cultural explorer and writer. Forthcoming books include an edited volume on superhero comics in the United States, a book on city planning in the American south, and an anthology that examines both the real and imagined impact of the Florida experience.

Allen H. Kupetz, a recognized thought leader on the present and future impact of technology on individuals and corporations, is the Executive-in-Residence at the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College. Among other services, he works with the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, which offers cutting edge, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities resulting from their service to the United States.

Rob Martino performs original music and arrangements on the Chapman Stick, a unique stringed instrument that combines elements of guitar, bass, piano and percussion. The strings are tapped and held onto the frets, rather than plucked or strummed, enabling both hands to play complete and expressive multi-part arrangements. Rob has drawn from various progressive, folk, celtic and classical music influences to develop his particular playing style. In addition to making a strong impression at live performances, Rob’s music has a popular online presence, gathering over a million views and thousands of subscribers worldwide on YouTube.

James Neihouse is an award-winning cinematographer who has worked on numerous IMAX films. He has traveled the world filming subjects ranging from polar bears in the Arctic, to wild tigers in the jungles of India, America’s Cup racing in Australia, chimpanzees in Tanzania, cosmonaut training in Star City, Russia, and Michael Jordan during the Chicago Bulls 1998 championship season. Among his recent projects: training shuttle astronauts in the operation of IMAX cameras in space.

Hakeem M. Oluseyi is an internationally recognized astrophysicist, inventor, science communicator, and humanitarian. He has addressed diverse problems in astrophysics including understanding the nature of the dark energy that accelerates our universe, the origin and evolution of the Milky Way galaxy, and the mechanisms by which magnetic fields heat and accelerate astrophysical plasmas. His work in technology development has included developing instruments for space-based astrophysical research and new techniques for manufacturing computer chips. Originating from one of New Orleans' poorest neighborhoods, Hakeem has made it his life's work to educate the poor in America and in the 3rd World. Some of his current science and education projects include being a member of the development team for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which is the highest priority observatory for the U.S.; the UNESCO Earth-Observing Satellite, which is a project between the U.S., Russia, and African nations; and Hands-On Universe Africa, a project to bring real scientific data to science classrooms in underdeveloped nations.

Marc Sardy is passionate about educating for peace. Following formative experiences in the Australian outback, the UK, Malaysia, France, and China, he became convinced that cinema can be a powerful tool for inspiring people and motivating them to come together. Since 2005, he’s worked with Orlando’s Global Peace Festival in order to realize this vision. Festival programming focuses on diversity, and films are selected for the potential they have to increase understanding, awareness, appreciation and action – prerequisites for a peaceful world.

Trained as a genetic engineer, Devanjan Sikder studies sleep-wake cycles and the way they affect our metabolism; when sleep-wake cycles are disrupted, diabetes and obesity may result. Moreover, this area of research has implications for conditions such as narcolepsy, insomnia, eating disorders, addiction, and – looking at the role of nutrient availability in cell proliferation – possibly even cancer. Using genetic, genomic and biochemical tools, his research group seeks to understand biochemical attributes defining sleep, wakefulness and hunger.

Rachel Simmons is passionate about teaching her students to be responsible leaders and citizens as well as accomplished artists. Her interests range from collaborative community art projects to climate change, marine pollution and ecotourism. Research and geography inform her work; she traveled to Antarctica in 2008 and 2009, and will visit Iceland this summer to study appropriate scale and the sustainable landscape.