Exhibitionism
Posted: September 17, 2026 Filed under: Art, Exhibit Development, Museums, Science, Social Justice, Uncategorized, Writing Leave a commentI’m so pleased to be working on a series of science center exhibitions with an extra-special sauce, that I think just might change the industry forever…? I want to tell you all about it. Ooo but we’ve only soft launched. Ain’t that just the way?
Look at the image below. Can you guess what THREE exhibitions it represents…?
Flying to Mars with NASA
Posted: May 30, 2024 Filed under: Art, Museums, Science, Screenwriting, Social Justice, Writing | Tags: Film, NASA, scicomm, SciEd, Science, Screenwriting Leave a commentAt the end of 2022, I was finally able to see the gorgeous final product of a project that began in 2020: a full-dome planetarium show Mars: The Ultimate Voyage. As co-writer and advisor on the project, I was humbled to hear planetarium directors calling it perhaps the most comprehensive show about long-distance space flight yet. Ask me anything about the challenge of balancing complex science with a cutting-edge approach to inclusivity and equity, or about the all-around joy of working closely with NASA scientists to collect their stories. And catch Mars: The Ultimate Voyage at planetaria everywhere on planet Earth!
Screenplays OF SCIENCE (ence, ence, ence)
Posted: January 11, 2021 Filed under: Exhibit Development, Interactive, Production, Research, Science, Screenwriting, Television, Writing Leave a commentScience communicators write screenplays? Heck yeah I do: the kind you see in museum exhibitions and planetariums (planetaria, if you’re nerdy).
I’m stoked and honored to be working on one about human space flight for a NASA grant, working with the Bell Museum and brilliant full-dome producers at Morehead Planetarium. Hoping it will be the kind of film that makes every kid who sees it want to work for NASA.
Every kid?
Well why not, I ask you.
And hey, wow: Victoria the T. rex, the video I wrote and directed for immersive, in-exhibition viewing, has won three awards! 🏆 🏆 🏆 See a sample from it (minus narration) at my instagram page, linked below. Cinematography, animation, and production by the incredibly talented folks at Animism Studio:
Reviews for Consider the Platypus
Posted: January 29, 2020 Filed under: Art, Books, Dolphins, Museums, Nonfiction, Research, Science, Storytelling, Writing 2 CommentsHonored and humbled by response to my first book, Consider the Platypus: Evolution through Biology’s Most Baffling Beasts, available now wherever books are sold:
- Wall Street Journal – “What to Give” nature books gift guide
- American Scientist – Science Book Gift Guide
- Ars Technica – Science and tech book review
- Queensland Reviewers Collective – book review
- Minnesota Book Awards – Finalist in General Nonfiction
“Victoria the T. rex” now open in AZ
Posted: January 29, 2020 Filed under: Exhibit Development, Interactive, Museums, Research, Science, Screenwriting, Writing Leave a comment“Victoria” is a newly discovered T. rex specimen, the second largest and most complete known to science (after Sue, at the Field Museum). I had the great honor of working alongside some of the world’s leading paleontologists to develop a touring exhibition around Victoria’s pristine fossil remains, complete with “Become Victoria” interactives and a fully immersive Cretaceous-era diorama come to life. Best of all, the entire experience builds directly upon the most cutting-edge T. rex science. (We’re talking forward stance and feathers, people.)
[EDIT] And that’s not all! This November, 2020, I was utterly chuffed to learn that the film I wrote and directed for in-exhibition has won three awards! Much credit is due to the incredible, unrivaled work of Animism Studio with whom collaboration was a career-topping thrill.
The exhibition, Victoria the T. Rex, is open now at the Arizona Science Center. Colossal thanks to the entire top-notch team, including Dr. Dave Hone, Dr. Heinrich Mallison, IMG, NGX Interactive, Stacy Sidman, and Khalil Williams. Check out the suuuuper flashy trailer for the exhibition below:
Consider the Platypus
Posted: January 5, 2019 Filed under: Books, Nonfiction, Science, Writing | Tags: Books, scicomm Leave a comment…Is the actual, updated name of my aforementioned and forthcoming illustrated nonfiction book for adults and curious kids. Sneak peeks soon! Stay tuned.
Broadcast Know-It-All
Posted: July 9, 2017 Filed under: Comedy, Dolphins, Interactive, Performance, Podcast, Production, Radio, Science, Speaking | Tags: audio, education, humor, radio, scicomm, Science Leave a commentReady your ears to get SCHOOLED, folks, ’cause I’m playing Fact Checker on Season 3 of the Tell Me Something I Don’t Know Podcast (starring Freakonomic’s Stephen Dubner)!
First Minneapolis episode: “Three Sheets to the Wind” with special guest John Moe. They named they episode after one of my facts! And about all the drunk talk featured in the episode.
Second Minneapolis episode: “Creature Comforts” with special guest Krista Tippet. That one has a lot of sex talk.
Woman on the Street, Hot Seat
Posted: April 14, 2017 Filed under: Comedy, Dolphins, Interactive, Performance, Production, Science, Television Leave a commentI finally gathered up some of my science talking and slapped it into a highlights reel. While the video’s still private, I share it with you now, via THIS “EXCLUSIVE” LINK (and below).
More footage upon request. AMA 4ever.
How to Be a Dolphin (Not a Hippie)
Posted: July 6, 2016 Filed under: Dolphins, Nonfiction, Science, Writing Leave a commentMy latest for Nautil.us. It was only a matter of time.
Science Comedy & Regular Comedy
Posted: May 25, 2016 Filed under: Comedy, Interview, Performance, Production, Radio, Research, Science, Speaking, Storytelling | Tags: Podcast, Regret Labs Leave a commentStorytelling is a thing that I do, and here’s a video of a recent gig. The story I tell is not scientific––OR IS IT…?
It is also my pleasure to introduce Regret Labs, a Science/Comedy podcast to which my fellow comedians Levi Weinhagen and Aric McKeown invited me because they needed a little more science for their not-so-much-science.
This is the kind of podcast where people talk over each other sometimes. Into it? Not into it? Drop a comment on the site to let us know.
Mandford
