The Staff

Anthony Carpi, Ph.D. (Cornell University)
Founder

Anthony is the founder and president of Visionlearning. He is an Associate Professor of Environmental Toxicology at John Jay College of the City University of New York with extensive experience in teaching and educational research. He has authored articles for the Journal of Chemical Education and the Journal of College Science Teaching on the design and effectiveness of Web-based teaching resources. He is the recipient of two National Science Foundation grants for the development of online science teaching resources, and he was one of the designers of the HETS virtual plaza, an online education cooperative for Hispanic students. He has published extensively on the fate, behavior and toxicity of mercury as an environmental pollutant. In addition, he is active in research in the area of environmental forensics.

Anne E. Egger (Stanford University)
Earth & Environmental Science Editor

Alfred L. Rosenberger, Ph.D. (City University of New York)
Life Science Editor

Alfred has worked at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoological Park conducting research on the conservation biology of monkeys, and at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, as a Digital Curator for electronic educational outreach. Before he was an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has developed educational kiosks and websites focusing on the biology of mammals as well as new research methods involving three-dimensional virtual specimens. His scientific research emphasizes the evolutionary history and adaptations of South and Central American monkeys and the origins of anthropoid primates, which is the taxonomic group to which we belong with monkeys and the more conventional apes. He is forever fascinated by the challenge of creating a multi-disciplinary story of primate evolution. He learned early on, while working toward a Ph.D in Biological Anthropology at the City University of New York, that the study of skulls, skeletons and teeth of museum specimens and fossils makes a lot more sense when one also spends time chasing monkeys in the rain forest to learn what the animals actually do.

Jessica E. Zimmer
Educational Assistant

Jessica is a doctoral student in Anthropology at the University of Florida. She has developed gallery and online museum exhibits with the American Museum of Natural History, the Asia Society, the Contemporary Arts Forum, the Museo Italo-Americano, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the Exploratorium. She started in bilingual education as a peer educator in English as a Second Language classes in northern California and later worked as a teacher’s assistant in bilingual K-12 classrooms in southern California. Jessica is a freelance journalist for the New York Times Company. Her current research interest is Southeastern archaeology.

Yana Mikhailova (John Jay College)
Programming and Project Assistant

Yana is a graduate of the Computer Information Systems Major at John Jay College. She has worked with Visionlearning since 2001. She has extensive experience in HTML, Flash and C++ programming, in addition to graphic and animation design. She also has extensive involvement in project management, working as a publishing assistant and communications specialist. She is fluent in both Russian and English.

Russ Demarest (University of South Carolina)
Web Developer

Russ is the web developer, database administrator and application designer for Visionlearning.com. He has designed and created a variety of education-based online programs including ThinkQuest, ThinkQuest New York City and ThinkQuest for Tomorrow's Teachers, a PT3 program. He has created an array of commercial e-commerce systems, as well as a number of other projects including a personal movie review site hosting movie, book and television reviews from friends. An Open Source supporter and Linux user, Russ supports and promotes the free software movement.

Boris Bondarenko (John Jay College)
Graphic Design and Animation Specialist

Boris is a graduate of the Computer Information Systems Major at John Jay College. He has worked with Visionlearning since 2001 as a graphic artist and Flash simulation programmer. In addition, he conducts research in paralel programming, distributed computing, including an active Beowulf cluster at John Jay College.

Heather Hartwig Boyd, Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
Program Evaluation Specialist

Heather has a Ph.D. in Mass Communications and is an evaluation specialist with an emphasis on educational program development. She has 15 years of experience in measuring, analyzing and communicating the results of education and communication campaigns to diverse audiences. She is a member of the American Evaluation Association and the American Statistical Association.

Natalia Pommier (University of Massachusetts)
Spanish Translator

Natalia is a doctoral candidate in Communication at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her research focuses on issues of Latino identity and Spanish-language media in the United States. She also holds graduate degrees in Art History, Development Studies, and Media Studies. She was born in Germany, grew up in Cuba and Bolivia, and before coming to the U.S. also lived in Europe.