Key staff and volunteers
Steve Bodley
Project Lead
Steve is a retired Physical Science Educator and a Solar Consultant at Palmetto Solar. After 33 years of classroom experience as a traditional and blended learning Physical Science educator in a central Pennsylvania school district, he has been trained in many educational initiatives, multiple waves of new technology in both hardware and software, and been fortunate enough to meet several thousand students and watch them grow to pursue a wide variety of careers. Recently, he presented at ISTE for two web-based software creators that focus on measuring school climate and improving student awareness of their own learning practices to reach their academic goals. he has served as a trainer for several new software programs that were selected by the district, grade level team leader and 15 years as the science department chairperson. His new focus as a retired classroom educator is to use his experience and look for ways to improve public education for students, educators, and communities as a whole by forming relationships with those that can make this goal a reality. Steve graduated from the Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelors of Science in Education and Biology and General Science.
Mazen Megahed
Lead, Integrated Science Design
Mazen Megahed is currently an R&D Engineer at Medtronic: a medical device engineering company specializing in diabetic, neurological, cardiac, and surgical care. He works on the software and hardware base of next generation diabetic insulin devices.
In Medtronic, Mazen leads Medtronic’s African Descent Network: an extra-company
organization tasked with developing career and cultural opportunities for Medtronic employees and grassroots organizations across Los Angeles. Mazen’s work has contributed to introducing young African students to STEM, educating Medtronic employees on cultural and professional practices, volunteer opportunities, mentorship of students, and recruitment of new graduates to Medtronic.
Before working at Medtronic, Mazen attended the University of Pittsburgh majoring in
mechanical engineering with a specialization in medical device design obtaining a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 2021. In his time at the University of Pittsburgh Mazen has worked in the engineering departments of Heart I/O, Philips Healthcare, and Edwards Lifesciences developing AI to detect myocardial infarctions, analyzing defects in respirator equipment, and developing hemodynamic monitoring devices, respectively. At the University, Mazen conducted research into neurological tools to analyze addiction pathways and pediatric implantable devices for children with craniosynostosis.
Ann Miller
Executive Director
Ann Miller is currently the Executive Director at Science is Elemental, a science education 501C3 nonprofit. She is also the principal at A. Miller Analysis and Consulting LLC, Chief Program Officer at Chemists Without Borders, and a board member at the Montgomery County Coalition for Adult Literacy (MCAEL).
Ann worked as a Senior Research Scientist at CNA, a not-for-profit research and analysis organization from 1993-2021. Her work focused on analysis of training, education, readiness, logistics, and technology and has led numerous projects for the Navy and Marine Corps. Through CNA, she also provided technical support and analysis to the West Virginia Department of Education from 2007-2009.
In her work with Science is Elemental, Ann has interacted, either through consultation, teaching, or both, with several educational institutions. These include: The Springwell School in Silver Spring, MD, ArtPlayLearn, in Laurel, Maryland, Baltimore City Public Schools, and the Holland Brook Elementary School in Readington, NJ. She has developed integrated science/sports/art/music lessons and provided those lessons in school settings.
In addition to her board work and founding Science is Elemental, Ann’s experience with non-profit charitable organizations includes five Compass Pro Bono projects (2020-present), three Taproot projects (2020-2022), and providing analytic support to the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann (CCE) Music and Dance Week (2015-2021). She uses her analytic capabilities to support decision making, staffing considerations, survey development, data collection and analysis.
For over twenty years, Ann has been involved as tutor, mentor, and coordinator of tutoring/mentoring activities for elementary school students.
Ann received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology, and her B.A. in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania
Board of Directors
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Tamara Voynick
Board of Directors, President
Tam has been a volunteer at SIE since 2024 and joined the Board of Directors in 2026. Her career as a chemist included work in the pharmaceutical industry, in industrial hygiene, on a gasoline spill clean-up project, and as a formulation chemist. Most recently, Tam retired from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt where she was an editor and a director in the science department and worked on 6-12 educational materials.
Tam grew up in Arizona and earned a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Bryn Mawr College. She studied oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and then lived in Austin, Texas for most of her life. She is grateful to be getting involved in the DMV community and also volunteers at Caring Matters as a facilitator for a bereavement support group.
“Children are born learners and scientists!” Tam said, “I‘m excited to be working with Science Is Elemental to encourage the natural curiosity that children have about the world. In our increasingly complex world it is vital that all citizens have a sense of how science works.”
Mary Mohney
Board of Directors, Treasurer
Mary Mohney, CPA, CGMA, is the Treasurer for SIE. In addition to her work at SIE, Mary is the Executive Vice President, Finance at the American Geophysical Union. In this role, she is a member of the organization’s leadership team and oversees finance, accounting, human resources, project management, digital innovation and technology services. She is responsible for ensuring the financial health of the organization by implementing sound financial, business and risk management practices. Before joining AGU, she was the Society for Human Resource Management’s Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, the Director of Shared Services America for Baan, a global software company, and a Partner at Langan Associates, a public accounting firm specializing in not-for-profit organizations. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from James Madison University.
Mary is very active in the accounting and not-for-profit communities as a member of Association of International Public Accountants (AICPA), American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Council of Engineering and Scientific Societies Executives (CESSE) and the working group on Standards of Disclosure for the Investment Diversity Advisory Council. She also volunteers extensively in her community including holding past positions as a Girl Scout Leader, Treasurer for a local swim team, and held board positions for both a community pool and a small non-profit teaching life-skills to local teens.
Rick Lober
Board of Directors, Vice President
Shareef Khatib
Board of Directors, Secretary
Kevin Plaxco
Board of Directors
Kevin Plaxco, a Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, holds appointments in the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and of BioEngineering. Prior to joining UCSB in 1998 Dr. Plaxco received his Ph.D. from Caltech and performed postdoctoral studies at Oxford and the University of Washington. Dr. Plaxco’s research focus is on the physics of biomolecular folding and its engineering applications. A major aim of the group’s applied research is to harness the speed and specificity of folding in the development of sensors, adaptable surfaces, and smart materials. Dr. Plaxco has co-authored more than 250 papers and two dozen patents on protein folding, protein dynamics, and folding-based sensors and materials. He serves on the scientific boards of a half dozen biotechnology firms, several of which are commercializing technologies developed by his group, and has also written a popular science book on Astrobiology.
Claire Booyjzsen Noble
Board of Directors
David Karasik
Board Member
David Karasik is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at the University of
Oklahoma, where he teaches Federal Securities Regulation and Business Associations.
Before joining SIE, David served in several roles as an attorney at the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission in Washington, DC, from 1997 to 2025. David has written articles,
trained numerous international securities and law enforcement practitioners, and spoken on
international panels. His expertise covers securities fraud schemes, whistleblowing, investor
education, and international investigative cooperation.
J.D. University of Michigan
B.A. University of California, Berkeley