Board of Directors. Members of the Board provide important direction for the Institute as well as goal setting, strategic planning, and fundraising. Current members & their bios are:

Dr. Paul B. Dusenbery received his Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire in 1978. He is the Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of the Space Science Institute. He helped found the Institute in 1992. Dr. Dusenbery has been active in a variety of areas in space physics research and has served on many scientific research and education committees. He was a member of AGU's Education and Human Resources Committee for two terms and was chair of the Space Physics and Aeronomy (SPA/AGU) Public Information Committee. He is the Project Director for the multi-agency supported museum exhibitions: Electric Space, MarsQuest, Space Weather Center, Alien Earths, and Destination Mars. Dr. Dusenbery has also developed innovative workshops for scientists and engineers on formal and informal education and space weather workshops for educators. He is the project director for a multi-agency outreach program of the National Space Weather Program. This multi-faceted project has produced mini-exhibits for museums (in partnership with NASA/GSFC), space weather brochures and posters, a web page called the Space Weather Center, and an event-based high school curriculum called SpaceStorms.

Dr. Edward E. Geary received a Ph.D. in Geology from Cornell University in 1986. He is a Senior Science Education Program Manager at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. He currently works on the GLOBE program and several Digital Library projects. During the past decade, Dr. Geary has been Director of the Center for Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education (CSMATE) at Colorado State University (CSU) and Director of Education and Outreach programs at the Geological Society of America in Boulder, Colorado. Dr. Geary has held professorial positions in both Geoscience and Education. He has extensive, hands-on experience with K-16 faculty professional development, organizational partnership building, middle and high school curriculum development, and fundraising. His passion is to improve Earth and space science education at all levels with the goal of improving appreciation and understanding of Earth for all citizens.

Dr. Robert L. Russell received a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Cornell University and has published research in a number of professional journals. He co-owns Informal Science, Inc. and co-publishes The Informal Learning Review and the Traveling Exhibitions Report. Until 1993, Dr. Russell was Program Director with the National Science Foundation’s $35 million/year Informal Science Education Program, has fifteen years of rich and varied experience in education, including cross-cultural, educational, and evaluation research, university teaching, and service as director of two museums – a children’s museum and a science-technology center. At the National Science Foundation, Russell initiated new science education projects providing exhibits and professional development to new science centers, worked with national youth and community-based organizations to establish science programs, and encouraged the development of innovative exhibits and programs within established institutions. As a museum director, Dr. Russell was noted for revitalizing the missions of the museums through long-range strategic planning, and setting the museums in new directions. Through Informal Learning Experiences, Dr. Russell serves a wide range of clients, including science centers, children’s museums, zoos, environmental organizations, and media. He consults on strategic planning, project development, funding, audience development, and evaluation.

Van Schoales is the Vice President for education initiatives and the Executive Director of the Colorado Small Schools Initiative at the Colorado Children's Campaign. He directs K-12 program and policy work for the campaign in addition to facilitating the development of 12 new high schools in Colorado. Van was the founding principal and CEO of The Odyssey School, an Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound school in the Denver Public Schools. Odyssey is a small K-8 charter school serving a diverse population of 220 students. Van has previously been Head of School at Jarrow School, a progressive Montessori school in Boulder, CO. He has been a consultant to Brown University, Outward Bound USA and the Geological Society of America. Van was also the Executive Director of the Bay Area Coalition of Essential Schools, a non-profit school reform organization in Oakland, for several years. Van taught high school science for seven years and currently teaches a course on school reform at the University of Denver. He received his BA in Earth Sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz, an MSC in Geological Sciences from Brown University, and an MA in Education from Stanford University. His awards include German Marshal Fellowship, Earth Sciences Teacher of the Year and Stanford University's LaBoskey Award.

Tom Thompson is an executive consultant specializing in strategic planning and the development of operational policies and procedures. Tom holds an MBA from Arizona State University, an MIM (Master’s of International Management) from Thunderbird, and a BA from The University of Colorado. Although his experience ranges across a dozen different industries, Tom has spent much of his last 10 years in the telecommunications space, working with local, long distance, wireless, satellite and cable companies in the US, Europe and Asia. He has solid experience with process automation, systems integration, billing & customer care systems, web-based training and content management. Prior to his independent consulting work, Tom was a research and development director for advanced digital communications & services at CableLabs – a non-profit R&D facility for the cable industry. He managed 40 engineers and support staff, and was heavily engaged in system development as well as all aspects of quality assurance testing and technology demonstrations for voice over IP networks. As a reengineering consultant in the early 90’s, Tom participated in several efforts to move organizations toward paperless environments and has been involved with Internet technologies since their emergence. He has experience across many different industries including logistics & transportation, finance & insurance, oil & gas, telecommunications and retail. Tom spent 5 years on active duty as an Army officer in elite units in both infantry and military intelligence. He has written over 15 business plans and has been involved in the launching of 4 start-ups.