Our Team
Current Team Members
Dr. Henry Winter
Co-Lead
Dr. Henry “Trae” Winter III, is the Chief Scientist and Co-Founder of the ARISA Lab. Dr. Winter has worked on eight NASA missions observing the Sun. His primary research focus is improving computer simulations to explore energy is released in the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona, and in other stars. Dr. Winter has designed video wall exhibits for the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the National Air and Space Museum, North Carolina State University’s Hunt Library, and the Harvard Art Museums’ Lightbox Gallery. In addition to Eclipse Soundscapes, his current project “The Tactile Sun” aims to engage the blind and visually disabled community with universally designed solar exhibits.
MaryKay Severino
Co-Lead
MaryKay Severino is the Educational Director and Co-Founder of the ARISA Lab. After earning a business degree from Villanova University, she worked in South Carolina and California as a Program Manager and Marketing Consultant. Realizing she was ready for a change, she went on to earn her Master’s degree in Education and worked in public school systems and universities in Italy, Taiwan, and South Korea. Living abroad, immersed in other cultures and navigating daily life with language and literacy barriers, gave MaryKay a strong understanding of the challenges faced by anyone who communicates differently. For this reason, the Eclipse Soundscapes project was a natural fit. She is excited to use her skills to promote, plan, and execute a project which will bring the amazement and wonder of an eclipse to a more inclusive demographic.
Kelsey Perrett
Social Media Coordinator and Content Writer
Kelsey Perrett is a Massachusetts-based freelance writer, editor, web producer, and social media specialist. She enjoys writing about travel, health and fitness, and the environment. When she isn’t writing, she can be found outside exploring trails, at the gym/yoga studio, or attempting to conquer an ever-expanding reading list. Kelsey got involved in the Eclipse Soundscapes Project due to her interest in environmental reporting, and is thrilled to work with a talented group to make the wonders of space accessible to everyone.
Arlindo Goncalves
Application Developer
Arlindo Goncalves is an iOS developer from Brockton, Massachusetts. He aspires to develop applications that help schools and other institution engage youth, making education a focal point in their lives. In his free time, Arlindo enjoys playing soccer and cooking for his family and friends.
Joel Goncalves
Application Developer
Joel Goncalves is a software engineer from Brockton, Massachusetts and a Computer Science graduate from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. As an engineer, he is passionate about creating and contributing to meaningful applications. As a hobby, he likes to hike, travel and play sports.
Our Partners
Reginé Gilbert
Industry Assistant Professor
Reginé Gilbert is a user experience designer, educator, and author with over ten years of experience working in technology. She has a strong belief in making the world a more accessible place that starts and ends with the user. Reginé’s areas of research focus are digital accessibility, inclusive design, and immersive experiences.
Reginé is lending her experience and expertise to collaborate with the Eclipse Soundscapes: Citizen Science Project (ES:CSP) in its efforts towards engaging participants in learning experiences that promote the development of accessibility skills for STEM careers. Through Reginé’s real-world client classroom program at The NYU Tandon School of Engineering Integrated Digital Media Department, the ES:CSP team works with Reginé to engage her students in tackling various real-world accessible user interface challenges faced by ES:CSP. This collaboration provides a unique opportunity for students to enhance their accessibility skills and knowledge early in their STEM careers while also supporting a NASA project in becoming more accessible and inclusive.
NASA HEAT
Federal Agency Partner
The NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team (NASA HEAT) capitalizes on NASA’s rich history of sharing research and technology through compelling and innovative education projects. NASA HEAT (formerly NASA Space Science Education Consortium (NSSEC)) continues the Science Mission Directorate’s (SMD) work at the forefront of NASA’s educational endeavors by linking exciting science and missions directly to the American public. NASA HEAT is partnering with ARISA Lab on its Eclipse Soundscapes Mobile Application Project to provide the script calculating the timing of the eclipse, subject matter experts, and the funding that makes the Eclipse Soundscapes mobile application possible.
National Center for Accessible Media, GBH
The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) is a non-profit branch of GBH studios in Boston which is dedicated to achieving media access equality for people with disabilities. NCAM is partnering with Eclipse Soundscapes to provide media coverage of eclipses, including illustrative audio descriptions of eclipse features, which will allow all users, including visually impaired individuals, to experience an eclipse in a multimodal manner through the inclusion of real-time audio narrations. NCAM also conducts reviews of the Eclipse Soundscapes app to enhance its accessibility.
Past Team Members
Miles Gordon
Audiovisual Production Specialist
Miles Gordon is an audio engineer and multi-media artist from New England. Between mixing and mastering tracks for his friends and his work on the Eclipse Soundscapes project, he also enjoys tinkering with machines and editing papers for a Chinese translation company. When he grows up, he wants to be a supporting character in a William Gibson novel. Miles got involved in the Eclipse Soundscapes Project after a mutual friend introduced him to Dr. Winter. Their shared enthusiasm for innovation in audio engineering led to a collaboration on Eclipse Soundscapes.
Christina Migliore
Image Analysis Intern
Originally from a small town in New Jersey, Christina is an undergraduate student studying physics and math at Northeastern University. She works on image and video analysis for the Eclipse Soundscapes project and numerically modeling solar flares at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. She became involved with Eclipse Soundscapes because she enjoys scientific outreach and is interested in conveying numerical information in new ways. Christina hopes to continue studying in the field of plasma physics as a graduate student.
Kristin DiVona
Graphic Designer
Kristin DiVona is the Visual Information Specialist for NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory. An award-winning designer and illustrator, she is responsible for the creation of printed materials, exhibits, and interactive educational tools that visually interpret concepts related to astrophysics and x-ray astronomy — connecting everyday life to science exploration and technology. (Yes, it’s as cool as it sounds.) She is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design. Kristin is waiting not-so-patiently for this amazing astronomical event, and is excited to work with the Eclipse Soundscapes team on this inclusive design project.
Kyle Bertelsen
Web Developer
Kyle Bertelsen was a web developer based out of Brooklyn, New York. Kyle came on to the project late and did an incredible job bringing Kristin’s designs to life on the web in a very short time. He was an integral part of the team and is responsible for much of the project’s success. Kyle passed away suddenly on January 2, 2018. Kyle’s absence is still strongly felt by the entire team and we mourn his passing. We respect and appreciate his diligent work, but we miss the person behind it.
Past Partners
Science Friday
The Science Friday Initiative is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the public’s access to science and scientific information. They host a radio show distributed by Public Radio International (PRI) and produce science and technology related digital videos, original web articles, and educational resources for educators. Science Friday is partnering with Eclipse Soundscapes to provide audio recordings and social media support for the project.
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS), an agency of the United States Department of the Interior, manages national parks, monuments, conservation, and historical sites throughout the United States. NPS partnered with Eclipse Soundscapes during the August 2017 Eclipse to collect mono and binaural field recordings in parks across the country, especially those in the path of totality. They collected data the day before, the day of, and the day after the 2017 eclipse in order to study how wildlife sounds fluctuate with the changes in light and temperature caused by the eclipse.
Eclipse Mob
Eclipse Mob is a crowdsourced effort to conduct the largest-ever low-frequency radio wave propagation experiment during the 2017 solar eclipse. They used radio signals to study the effect of sunlight on the ionosphere. By crowdsourcing, Eclipse Mob collected radio wave signals at locations across the United States, allowing them to study how the signals are affected as they travel along various paths. Eclipse Mob partnered with Eclipse Soundscapes to provide radio wave data (a form of audio data).
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is a group of museums and research centers established and administered by the United States government. Among the Smithsonian’s many facilities are the National Air and Space Museum and the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. The Smithsonian partnered with Eclipse Soundscapes to provide a headquarters and funding for Phase 1 of the Eclipse Soundscapes project.
National Girls Collaborative
The National Girls Collaborative Project (NGC) brings together United States organizations that are committed to informing and encouraging girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. NGC partnered with Eclipse Soundscapes to organize listening parties where young women were able to experience the 2017 total solar eclipse in a multi-sensory way.
Citizen CATE
The Citizen CATE (Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse) Experiment was an effort to document the 2017 Eclipse by capturing images of the inner solar corona using a network of more than 60 telescopes. CATE worked with high schools, universities, education groups, astronomy clubs, national science research labs, and corporate sponsors to produce 90 minutes of continuous, high-resolution, and rapid-cadence images detailing the Sun’s inner corona. Citizen CATE partnered with Eclipse Soundscapes to provide high quality images for the Eclipse Soundscapes app.
Brigham Young University, Idaho
Brigham Young University (BYU) is a private research university with three locations, including Rexburg, Idaho. They partnered with Eclipse Soundscapes to provide a series of field recordings of the 2017 Eclipse, including audio of an active beehive. Because Rexburg lies in the path of totality, BYU hosted a number of viewing and educational events with the City of Rexburg.