Dr. Nicolle Zellner is a professor of physics at Albion College in Albion, MI, where she teaches introductory and advanced astronomy and physics courses and has mentored dozens of student research partners. She has also served as a NASA Program Scientist in the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters. Supported by the NSF and NASA, Dr. Zellner’s research interests focus on understanding the impact history of the Earth-Moon system and how those impacts affected the conditions for life on Earth. She studies lunar impact glasses to interpret the bombardment history of the Moon (and Earth), and a second project focuses on understanding how the chemistry of simple molecules is affected by impacts. As a woman in science, she advocates for inclusive approaches and practices to increase diversity (in all of its forms) in the sciences.

Dr. Zellner has traveled to Antarctica to collect meteorites and to Chile to tour the biggest and best telescopes in the world. She loves teaching and talking about space - she has been a NASA Solar System Ambassador for more than 20 years, communicating with more than 2 million people through public talks, media interviews and written articles. In 2021, Dr. Zellner received the Carl Sagan Medal for Public Communication and she is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the highest honors in science. She has been Teacher of the Year and Scholar of the Year at Albion College.

Dr. Zellner graduated from Winneconne High School in Wisconsin and completed her undergraduate degree, with majors in Physics and Astronomy and a certification in Environmental Studies, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her PhD is from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2001), where she received the school's first Multidisciplinary PhD. She’s received fellowships from the American Association of University Women (American Fellowship) and Zonta International (Amelia Earhart Fellowship).

After earning his Ph.D. in chemistry from UC Berkeley and postdoctoral research at MIT, Thomas R. Cech joined the faculty of the University of Colorado Boulder in 1978. In 1982, Dr. Cech and his research group announced that an RNA molecule from a pond animal could by itself catalyze biochemical reactions, the first exception to the long-held belief that only proteins could act as enzymes. This discovery led to the first Nobel Prize in the state of Colorado (1989).   

From 2000 to 2009, Dr. Cech served as President of HHMI in Maryland. He then returned to research and teaching at CU Boulder and became the founding Director of the BioFrontiers Institute.  

While Dr. Cech continues to run an active research lab, he is also committed to sharing science with the public. His book The Catalyst, published by W.W. Norton in 2024, tells stories about RNA discoveries at a non-technical level. 

Dr. Cech was awarded the National Medal of Science (1995) and has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (1987) and the National Institute of Medicine (2000). Outside the lab, Dr. Cech is an avid hiker and skier, and a modestly successful cook.