ASTC 2025 Annual Conference
September 5–8, 2025 San Francisco Bay Area
Schedule Overview
The ASTC 2025 Annual Conference will include three plenary sessions that will bring the entire community together.
- Saturday, September 6, 2025
- Sunday, September 7, 2025
- Monday, September 8, 2025
Saturday, September 6
Opening Session
10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Exhibit Hall Stage
Kick off your conference with a lively and engaging opening session in the Exhibit Hall! We will start with brief welcome remarks from ASTC and leaders of this year’s consortium of host museums, then enjoy a performance from Star Dust, a dynamic hip-hop experience weaving together the music of the universe with STEAM exploration. Finally, grab your coffee or tea and get ready to mix and mingle with exhibitors and your peers.
Sunday, September 7
Alan J. Friedman Science Center Dialogues
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Ballroom
The Alan J. Friedman Science Center Dialogues are conducted in memory of and tribute to the founding director of the New York Hall of Science, Queens. The session is presented in the spirit of the commitment Alan had to the science center field and the issues and interests that were reflected in his own writings and presentations over the years.
In a world where science and technology are often caught in the crosscurrents of societal, political, and economic divides, the 2025 Alan J. Friedman Science Center Dialogues will explore how we can create meaningful connections across people with different values, experiences, perspectives, and interests, while enabling evidence-based decision-making and driving shared prosperity. Featuring leaders in science and technology engagement, communication, and policymaking, this session will delve into the complexities behind “anti-science” narratives, examine shifting coalitions around science and technology, and highlight practical strategies for convening dialogue that brings together diverse communities, industries, and policymakers. The dialogue participants will explore how science centers and museums can serve as trusted conveners—creating space for evidence, empathy, and collaboration to advance solutions to the most pressing challenges of our time.
Participants in the Dialogues include:
- Brinda Adhikari, Co-Host, Why Should I Trust You? Podcast
- Dan Reicher, Clean Energy Leader and Director of Three Stanford University “Uncommon Dialogues”
- Moderator: Kristan Uhlenbrock, Executive Director, The Institute for Science & Policy at Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Brinda Adhikari is an award-winning executive producer, showrunner and journalist with over 20 years of experience under her belt. She was most recently the executive producer of “The Problem with Jon Stewart,” and before that, she worked at ABC and CBS news for nearly 20 years. She is committed to impact-driven storytelling. She is currently the co-creator and co-host of the podcast called “Why Should I Trust You?” which looks at the breakdown in trust for science, medicine, public health and institutions writ large and what if anything we can do to rebuild it.
Dan Reicher is an entrepreneur, investor, policymaker, lawyer and educator focused on clean energy and climate change. Reicher has served three U.S. presidents, testified before the U.S. Congress more than 50 times, led the launch of Google’s pathbreaking climate and clean energy work, oversaw a $1.2 billion annual clean energy R&D budget as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy, and co-founded the nation’s first investment firm focused exclusively on renewable energy project finance. Reicher served from 2011 to 2018 as founding executive director of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, a joint center of the Stanford Law School and Graduate School of Business. Since 2018, Reicher has served as a Senior Scholar at Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability where he launched and leads three Stanford “Uncommon Dialogues” on: Hydropower and River Conservation; Large-scale Solar Development and Land Conservation; and Electricity Transmission Siting and Cost Allocation. Stanford Uncommon Dialogues bring adverse parties together on tough sustainability issues to find common ground and implement important solutions.
Reicher came to Stanford from Google, where he served since 2007 as Director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives. Reicher’s federal roles include: Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Department of Energy Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff; Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy for Policy; a member of the Obama and Clinton presidential transition teams; a member of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board; a member of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Energy and Environmental Systems; a staff member of the President’s Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island; a law clerk to a federal district court judge; and a paralegal in the U.S. Department of Justice..
Kristan Uhlenbrock is the Executive Director of the Institute for Science & Policy, a project of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, where she works to ensure science has a respected role in public discourse and policymaking. She is motivated by life’s interesting people, places, problems, and potential for advancing our understanding of the world and the solutions we need to sustain it. For the past two decades, she’s worked at the intersection of science, policy, community engagement, and communication for organizations like the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the Center for American Progress, the American Geophysical Union, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the White House. In 2023, she was the recipient of the National Academies Eric & Wendy Schmidt Excellence in Science Communication Award. Kristan serves on various boards and committees, including the AAAS Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion, the American Meteorological Society, the Association of Science & Technology Centers, and the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains Board, as well as being a mentor for the Morgridge Acceleration Program and the Promoting Geoscience Research, Education, and Success Program. She was a CIVIC DNA Fellow and an ASTC Deliberation & Dialogue Fellow. In her free time, Kristan enjoys escaping to the outdoors, writing, and good food and drink with friends.
Monday, September 8
Monday Keynote
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Ballroom
After years of pandemic reporting left him burnt out, Yong turned to a new hobby—birdwatching—to help him heal and reconnect with his original beat of nature writing. In birdwatching, Yong found a much deeper connection to the natural world. He tells that story in An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us.
Yong is also the bestselling author of I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us, a groundbreaking, informative, and entertaining examination of the relationship between animals and microbes.