Get to know your Academy colleagues! Staff Spotlights are featured every month in the internal Academy Dispatch newsletter, and Trustee Spotlights are featured every other month. Got a staffer to suggest for a future Spotlight? Send a note to academydispatch@calacademy.org.

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Leadership Design Council group photo

Aleks Liou (far left, top row), program manager of Youth Action for the Planet, with the program's Leadership Design Council members, who organize programming for their peers, conduct fieldwork, contribute to restoration projects, and more.

Meet Aleks Liou, Program Manager, Youth Action for the Planet

Academy anniversary: May 2023

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Paige Laduzinksy, senior exhibit content developer, pictured at Bugs exhibit.
Paige Laduzinsky, senior exhibit content developer, pictured at the Bugs exhibit in 2022.
Meet Paige Laduzinksy, Senior Exhibit Content Developer

Academy anniversary: January 2022

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Esther Oh, Director of Government Affairs, at a congressional hearing

Esther Oh at a congressional hearing while working for Congressman Xavier Becerra.

Meet Esther Oh, Director of Government Affairs

Academy anniversary: February 2023

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Matt Blackwell
Meet Matt Blackwell, Planetarium Technical Director

Academy anniversary: May 11, 2009

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Kris Kaiser in the park with her dog, Diamond, whom she adopted in June.

Meet Kris Kaiser, Director, Development Operations & Direct Response

Academy anniversary: March 8, 2008

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Johanna Loacker with a coconut crab in the intervertebrate zoology collection

Johanna Loacker shows off a coconut crab (Birgus latro) from Taiti in the invertebrate zoology collection.

Meet Johanna Loacker, Curatorial Assistant II in Invertebrate Zoology

Academy anniversary: January 2017

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Melissa Nelson, Trustee
Meet Professor Melissa Nelson, Academy Trustee

Melissa K. Nelson, PhD, is an Indigenous ecologist, writer, media-maker and native scholar-activist.

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Animal Health Department performs exam on penguin.

Steinhart Aquarium biologist Emma Kocina and veterinarians Lana Krol and Freeland Dunker perform an examination on a penguin.

Meet Freeland Dunker, Academy Veterinarian

Academy anniversary: January 7, 2008

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Academy staff member Panchami Bhat posing at a scenic overlook over the water
Meet Panchami Bhat, Email Marketing Lead

Academy anniversary: July 26, 2021

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Stephanie Meneses
Meet Stephanie Meneses, Assistant Manager in Guest Experience

Academy anniversary: November 3, 2008

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Academy Volunteer Coordinator Matee Manakitivipart holding owl
Meet Matee Manakitivipart, Volunteer Coordinator

Academy anniversary: August 16, 2021

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Dr. Christopher Schell in his lab
Meet Dr. Christopher Schell, Academy Trustee and Assistant Professor, University of California, Berkeley

Academy anniversary: October 13, 2022.

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Academy staffer Ian Hart touches up a Galapagos tortoise specimen
Meet Ian Hart, Senior Exhibitor Preparator

Academy anniversary: 2011