Wonderfest is a nonprofit California corporation dedicated to informal science education. Wonderfest achieved corporate independence in September 2011. During the preceding fourteen years, Wonderfest was an educational project of, first,

San Francisco University High School San Francisco University High School is a private college preparatory high school located in San Francisco, California. The school was opened in 1975. Facilities and campus The school is made up of four buildings, commonly referred to as Upper, ...

, then,

The Branson School The Branson School (also known as Branson, Branson School, or KBS) is a co-educational college-preparatory high school for students in grades 9–12. The school has 320 students, and is located in Ross, California, north of San Francisco. Histo ...

. From 1998 to 2010, Wonderfest produced an annual science festival—the first such community-wide event in the United States—that presented a series of expert dialogues on topics of scientific controversy. The topics were varied, covering

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, etc. In 2011, this festival was supplanted by the

Bay Area Science Festival The Bay Area Science Festival (BASF) is an annual science festival started in 2011 that takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area counties every year at the end of October/beginning of November. The BASF program features over 50 events each year. ...

, headquartered at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

. Wonderfest, subtitled "The Bay Area Beacon of Science," is dedicated to the memory of

Carl Sagan Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on ext ...

. From 2002 through 2010, and again in 2015, Wonderfest awarded the $5000

Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization The Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization is an annual $5,000 award presented in honor of the late scientist Carl Sagan by Wonderfest, the San Francisco Bay Area Beacon of Science, to a scientist who has "contributed mightily to the public u ...

. Wonderfest's founding director is Tucker Hiatt, physics teacher and former Stanford Visiting Scholar. Wonderfest's board of directors now guides its development: * Jacob Bien -- Assistant Professor of Computational Biology and Biological Statistics, Cornell University *

Jack Conte Jack Conte (; born July 12, 1984) is an American musician and co-founder and CEO of Patreon. He is one half of the band Pomplamoose, along with his wife Nataly Dawn, co-leader of the band Scary Pockets, and leader of the band Magaziine. Career C ...

-- Musician, videographer, &

Patreon Patreon (, ) is a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a co ...

CEO * Marriner Eccles -- Economist *

Alex Filippenko Alexei Vladimir "Alex" Filippenko (; born July 25, 1958) is an American astrophysicist and professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. Filippenko graduated from Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, California. He received a Ba ...

-- Professor of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley * Maribel Fraser -- Emeritus Director of Information Technology, AT&T * Juliana Gallin -- Author and creator of Ask a Scientist *

Howard Rheingold Howard Rheingold (born 1947) is an American critic, writer, and teacher, known for his specialties on the cultural, social and political implications of modern communication media such as the Internet, mobile telephony and virtual communities (a t ...

-- Author and Educator * Kendra Kramlich -- Financial Modeler, PRJ Holdings * Robert Strong -- Comedy Magician, San Francisco * Eric Yao -- Technical Director of Wonderfest and CEO of Picturoo Emeritus Board Members *

Eugenie Scott Eugenie Carol Scott (born October 24, 1945) is an American physical anthropologist, a former university professor and educator who has been active in opposing the teaching of young Earth creationism and intelligent design in schools. She coined t ...

, Chair, Advisory Council, National Center for Science Education *

Richard Zare Richard Neil Zare (born November 19, 1939, in Cleveland, Ohio) is the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science and a Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University. Throughout his career, Zare has made a considerable impact in physical ...

, Professor of Chemistry, Stanford University

References

* *{{cite press release, url= http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/astronomer-geoff-marcy-earths-premier-planet-hunter-wins-carl-sagan-prize-65508427.html , title=Astronomer Geoff Marcy, Earth's Premier Planet Hunter, Wins Carl Sagan Prize, work=prnewswire.com , date=October 22, 2009 , accessdate=September 10, 2011 Science events Recurring events established in 1998 1998 establishments in California