About us
Pips Veazey
Primary UArctic Assembly Representative
Elvey 201B
Pips Veazey is the Project Director for the Alaska Experimental Program to Stimulate
Competitive Research (EPSCoR), a statewide program funded by the National Science
Foundation and the State of Alaska aimed at increasing research capacity. She is also
the lead and co-creator of Vis-Space, a high-resolution visual environment designed
to promote conversations about complex problems, develop creative solutions, and enhance
team development.
Her research interests include the development and implementation of interdisciplinary
research teams, collaboration planning, and team science leadership. She currently
serves as a founding board member of the International Network for the Science of
Team Science and a board member for the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States.
She loves sailing, has traveled extensively doing research on Antarctic sea ice, worked
as a driller for the Greenland Ice Sheet Project, and fished commercially in the Bering
Sea on a halibut schooner. Her doctoral work focused on the competencies required
to manage and lead large interdisciplinary science teams and institutional hiring
practices for team science leadership.
Laura Conner
Alternate UArctic Assembly Representative
WRRB 108E
Laura Conner is an Associate Research Professor of Science Education at the Geophysical
Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Her research broadly addresses how people come to identify with science, as well as
the value of real objects and experiences in learning. She was formerly the Head of
Public Programs at the UA Museum of the North, where she directed the development
of exhibits and educational programs.
Conner has led many externally funded initiatives for youth and teachers, both inside
and outside the classroom. She holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from
the University of Arizona. Conner teaches graduate-level courses in science teaching
and outreach and is active in University-level service.