Category: Science Guest Page 1 of 2

Charles Pellegrino

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On February 22, 2023

In Author Guest, Guest of Honor, Science Guest

Charles Pellegrino is the author of numerous internationally bestselling books. Her Name, Titanic sold over a million copies and was one of the nonfiction sources for James Cameron’s movie Titanic. Several of Pellegrino’s books have been adapted for Time Life and National Geographic specials, including Unearthing Atlantis. He has a Ph.D. in paleobiology and is one of a small number of scientists who brought forensic science methods into the field of archaeology. As a forensic archaeologist, he has worked on the Titanic, in Pompeii and its sister cities, and at New York’s Ground Zero.

His first novel, Flying to Valhalla (1993), chronicles the first crewed human mission to a neighboring star system. His second, The Killing Star (1995) with George Zebrowski, is a hard SF novel about a sudden alien invasion in a late 21st-century technological utopia. Dust (1998) is a modern SF/horror classic describing an ecological disaster made inevitable by the sudden destruction of all insect life on Earth and is currently being developed into a movie by Village Roadshow Pictures.

Jim Beall

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On February 21, 2023

In Science Guest

Jim Beall (BS-Math, MBA, PE) has been a nuclear engineer for over fifty years, beginning as a nuclear engineering officer in the US Navy. Civilian experience includes design, construction, inspection, enforcement, and assessment with a nuclear utility, an architectural engineering firm, and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC). Assignments included on-site health physics support, piping design stress analyses, reactor licensing, reactor startup testing (Canadian Point Lepreau heavy water reactor), research reactor inspections, and a nuclear regulatory program assist mission to the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine in Kyiv. USNRC positions included reactor site construction senior resident inspector (SRI), reactor operations SRI, inspection team leader, safety analyst, senior enforcement specialist, and reactor policy assistant to three different Presidential-appointed USNRC Commissioners while earning the agency’s Meritorious and Distinguished Service awards.

The duties of those policy-level posts included substantial research into alternative and speculative energy sources, as well as energy forecasts and transmission technologies. Some of those other sources were coal, oil, hydro, geothermal, tidal, solar, wind, fracking, space-based, heavy water reactors, breeder reactors, fusion, and even anti-matter.

Coauthor of Journal of the British Interplanetary Society (JBIS) paper, “Ecological Engineering Considerations for ISU’s Worldship Project.” Baen Books has published several of his non-fiction articles on a variety of subjects, including:

  • “Our Worldship Broke!”
  • “Case Studies in Handwavium”
  • “From Corvus to Keyhole—Shipyards: Past, Present, and Science Fiction”
  • “Radium Girls of Science and Science Fiction”
  • “Grid Wars: Innovation, Feuds, Rivalry, and Revenge in the Never-ending Battle to Electrify America and the Planet”
  • “Atomic Follies”
  • “Warships of Sea and Space – Part 1”
  • “Warships of Sea and Space – Part 2”
  • “Recycling: From Stars to Starships”
  • “Borders: From the First Sumerians to the Last Starfighter”

    Ted Bethune

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    On February 21, 2023

    In Science Guest

    Ted Bethune is a native of Petersburg, VA. He became fascinated with the world of science during his early childhood and currently gives presentations on the space program in public schools.

    Ted established Space Science in 1984, reflecting thirty years of independent study and accumulation of scientific and historical information on manned and unmanned space programs. The goal of Space Science is to educate, enlighten, and compel youth and space enthusiasts to develop a greater appreciation and understanding of space technology.

    Abby Cordes

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    On February 18, 2023

    In Author Guest, Costuming Guest, Media Production Guest, Science Guest

    Abby Cordes is a graduate of Biola University’s Screenwriting program. She is passionate about both the consumption and creation of science fiction and fantasy. As a biology minor and a laboratory employee, Cordes also possesses a scientific background and a desire to share STEM knowledge with others. Her ultimate dream is to write for edutainment television. For the time being, she is dedicated to all things fandom, from writing fanfiction to donning cosplay to serving as a panelist at Mysticon for four years. This is her first year at RavenCon. Cordes lives in Colonial Beach, VA, with her husband Josh, and her parrot, Gloria.

    Ann Davis

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    On February 18, 2023

    In Science Guest

    Ann earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the State University of New York, College at Buffalo. Her Master’s and Specialist degrees are from Winthrop University. She has spent forty years in public education as a School Psychologist and Special Education Administrator. Ann is looking forward to retirement at the end of this school year. Her retirement plans include a continuation of the case study of Dr. Ben Davis, her husband of thirty years, and enjoying time with their very special pups. Travel and diamond painting are also on the ever-changing to-do list.

    Dr. Ben Davis

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    On February 18, 2023

    In Science Guest

    Ben Davis has a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics and an M.S. in Nuclear Astrophysics from the University of Notre Dame. He taught at the college level for several years on a number of technical subjects ranging from computer programming and math to, of course, astronomy and physics. In the late nineties, he took up a career in software and industrial controls engineering (robot programming and electronics are fun as they seem). As a lifelong fan of science fiction, his main avocations now involve history, futurism, and skepticism. When not traveling with his wife, playing with his dogs, climbing rocks, or attending cons, he spends his spare time pondering general relativity, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and the effects of antimatter on the dark matter/dark energy problem. Sometimes, he hunts for true psychics, ghosts, and other paranormal phenomena to no avail. He also has returned to teaching as an engineering and physics instructor for ECPI University.

    His various musings and con schedule can be found at askdrben.org.

    Dr. Anthony El-Khouri

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    On February 17, 2023

    In Science Guest

    Anthony El-Khouri is a physician and scientist mentored by Dr. Charles Pellegrino. His interests include the bio-archaeology of the RMS Titanic‘s wreck site, the excavations of Santorini (Thera), especially at Akrotiri, potential life in the universe beyond Earth, and the cosmic atmospheres of the Jovian planets (which he calls “Celestial Meteorology”). He lives in Melbourne, FL, and is a Health Science and Astrobiology professor.

    Dr. Kat Sinclair Fenter

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    On February 17, 2023

    In Performer, Science Guest

    Dr. Kat Sinclair Fenter completed her B.S. in Biotechnology at JMU with a minor in Theater and a Ph.D. in Microbiology at VCU. She currently teaches Biology at Christopher Newport University, Virginia Wesleyan University, and Tidewater Community College. Her academic research included Drosophila genetics, biofilms and microbes involved in periodontal disease, and bacteriophages. In her free time, she also sings with the Doorway Singers, Hampton Roads’ one-of-a-kind quartet singing group, is the choir director at Temple Beth Chaverim, and you may have seen her this weekend or at other conventions as a singer in Dimensional Riffs, the spectacular nerd rock band.

    Angela Giddings

    By

    On February 17, 2023

    In Author Guest, Media Production Guest, Science Guest

    Angela Giddings is a writer, scientist, and independent filmmaker from North Carolina. She has a Ph.D. in Microbiology and authored multiple scientific articles in virology, cell line design, and gene therapy. She is also the author of the futuristic dark fantasy series Dance of Ages, which begins with Shadow into Light and continues with A Shower of Embers. Recently, her science fiction short story “Moving Day” was published in the Brave New Worlds anthology from Zombies Need Brains, and her horror short story “Express Delivery” was published in the A Woman Unbecoming anthology from Crone Girls Press. In addition to her writing, she has also worked on short and feature-length horror films with Sick Chick Flicks behind and in front of the camera and is the co-director of the Sick Chick Flicks Film Festival.

    Diana Mozingo-Gorman

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    On February 15, 2023

    In Science Guest

    Dr. Diana Mozingo-Gorman has worked as an archaeologist, anthropologist, and paleoethnobotanist for 25 years. Although she specializes in Prehistoric Southeastern Archaeology, she has worked around the world exploring topics such as ritual sacrifice and burial, the archaeology of shamanism and witchcraft, and the origins of myth and legends. She’s been interviewed for archaeological segments on both CNN and The History Channel. Dedicated to wildlife conservation and world literacy, she actively participates in outreach programs with Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and The United Way.

    Diana is married, is mother to three cats, calls 21 lowland gorillas friends, and lives in North Carolina. In her spare time, she works on restoring her historic home, and filling the bookshelves in its big old library.

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