Mara Stein is the Head Start on Science Research Project Manager. She comes to the project with an extensive background in early childhood and family support programs. Prior to moving into the realm of research Mara implemented and ran an Early Head Start program, a Healthy Families type home visiting program, was Executive Director of a child abuse prevention program and has been a psychotherapist with children, families and individuals. In addition, she has worked in infant mental health, family mediation, and early childhood teacher education. Mara is also a consultant, trainer, and educator in early childhood, family support, and social work and is an experienced grant writer.

Dan received a joint Ph.D. in Research and Evaluation Methodology and Educational Psychology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He directs the evaluations of several science education projects at Western Washington University, and is the project director of a DRK-12 project, entitled Model of Research-based Education for Teachers (MORE for Teachers). He has developed and conducted evaluations for numerous organizations, including the National Science Foundation, Washington State Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction, Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board, and the Colorado Department of Education.

Program Evaluator Biograph, INK12 Principal Partner, Education Design, an educational consulting firm in Boston specializing in program evaluation for K12 and post-secondary projects in arts, science, and technology education. Current portfolio includes funded projects by U.S. Department of Education, National Science Foundation, NASA, and private foundations and represent collaborations with TERC, Concord Consortium, MIT, University of Pennsylvania, Old Dominion University, University of Southern Mississippi, Oakland Unified School District, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Metropolitan Opera Guild.

Educational Psychologist who has been in R&D related to educational reform for over 25 years.

Vanessa graduated from Smith College, where she double-majored in Geology and Russian, spending her sophomore year in Odessa, Ukraine. After college, she joined the Peace Corps and was stationed in the Philippines as an environmental education volunteer. After completing her stint, she earned a Masters in structural geology from The University of Texas at Austin, during which she spent 4 months in a tent in the Mojave. She then completed the PhD in Science Education (2009, UT-Austin). She spent 6 months at the University of Washington LIFE Center as a visiting fellow, edited a special issue of New Directions in Teaching and Learning, and authored two papers commissioned by the National Academies. She currently holds a post doctoral position in the Graduate School of Education at UC Berkeley, where she designs and researches assessment and science learning related to the Web-based Inquiry Science Environment with Marcia Linn, and leads a video analysis research group.