Dr. Chris Brown is the Director of the North Carolina Space Initiative. He is also the Director of Space Programs for the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science and the Director of the NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (NSCORT) in Gravitational Biology, both at NC State University. He also serves as a Senior Scientist for the Biological Sciences Branch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. More...

Courtney H. Thornton is the Educational Program Coordinator of the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science. Ms. Thornton holds a B.A. in Chemistry and a B.S. in Science Education from North Carolina State University. In the summer of 1996 she interned at NASA Langley in the Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars Program. She brings work experience from the public and private sectors that includes serving as a high school chemistry teacher and as a technician in an industrial adhesives laboratory. Ms. Thornton is currently pursuing a M.Ed. in Higher Education at North Carolina State University and is a member of the American College Personnel Association. In the position of Education and Public Outreach Coordinator, 20% of Ms. Thornton's focus is dedicated to organizing the public outreach endeavors for the Plant Gravitational Genomics team.