Department: Science

John P. O’Brien is a program officer for the Science program at the Heising-Simons Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2024, John performed research on extreme weather amplified by anthropogenic climate change as a research affiliate with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. In addition, he was also a research affiliate at Cal …

Gabriele Betancourt-Martinez is a program officer for the Science program at the Heising-Simons Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2021, Gabriele performed research in X-ray instrumentation and laboratory astrophysics as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie in Toulouse, France. Previously, she was a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow …

Rachel Tuggy is a program associate for the Science program at the Heising-Simons Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2021, Rachel was a project lead at Digital NEST, a nonprofit in the Central Coast that builds young people’s professional confidence through workshops and resources. Previously, Rachel was a fellow of the Everett Program, a …

Emily Schaller is a program officer for the Science program at the Heising-Simons Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2021, Emily worked for 10 years as a program manager at NASA where she directed STEM education and outreach programs for the Earth Science Division. She previously worked as a NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow, studying …

Monica Takama is a program associate for the Science program at the Heising-Simons Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2019, Monica served as an affordable housing specialist, where she worked with low-income residents to qualify for local housing programs in the East Bay and San Francisco regions. She is currently studying psychology at San …