Leslie Rupert Herrenkohl, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Learning Sciences and Human Development and Cognition Programs in the College of Education at the University of Washington. She teaches in the Elementary Master's in Teaching Program. Dr Herrenkohl studies the intellectual, social, and emotional aspects of children's development as science learners in formal and informal settings. She enjoys collaborating with practitioners to apply developmental theory to support the design of learning environments. Her work has been included in the national panel summary of school-based science learning, Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8 (2007) and was featured as one of twelve case examples in the volume on applying science research to teaching practice, Ready, Set, Science! Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms (2008). She served on the oversight panel for the recently released Surrounded by Science: Learning Science in Informal Environments (2010). Dr Herrenkohl has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the James S. McDonnell Foundation.
Véronique Mertl is a doctoral candidate in human development and cognition in the College of Education at the University of Washington. Her research explores the social, affective, and contextual elements that influence learning, with a particular focus on collaboration and belongingness in and out of school. She currently studies professional and adolescent musicians. She seeks to understand musicians' interactions, networks, and trajectories, particularly how out-of-school art and music settings engage and empower youth. Mertl works as a researcher for the Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Center, a National Science Foundation Science of Learning Center. She is also a consultant for several music and arts organizations in the United States.