Discovery Street Science Science education and communication
about
Robin has a spirited love of science and a passion for making its sometimes murky depths more transparent. As a child, Robin preferred biology and astronomy books to fairy tales and barbies. She fashioned her own chemistry experiments with plastic, ice, wax, and matches and nearly set the house on fire. In college, she became a biochemist. She delighted in geek jokes (“Heisenberg may have been here”), but found the practice of science somewhat stoic. When her first published paper came back from peer review with the commentary “too creative,” she took it as a sign she should get out of the lab.
She has since worked for many years as a writer and reporter, and spent eight years at various NPR outlets around the country, as well as at news organizations abroad. In 2000, she began a decade at the Exploratorium, where she had the honor of working with and learning from some of the best science teachers in the world. She produced public programs, developed websites, and wrote about all manner of science phenomena for the museum.
In 2010, Robin launched Discovery Street Science, an education and communications venture. She gets her geek on by writing science curricula, creating multimedia, tutoring high school students, leading walking tours, and being Science Trivia Mistress. She occasionally gives talks for Nerd Nite and relishes experimenting in the kitchen. Robin is a member of the Bay Area Tutoring Summit, the National Association of Science Writers, and is immediate past president of the Northern California Science Writers’ Association.
Her favorite element is sodium because it tastes good and explodes in water.