Media Contacts

Want to schedule an interview? Please email PR@ChabotSpace.org or call (510) 336-7338.

Adam Tobin, Executive Director & CEO

Adam Tobin joined Chabot in November 2016. Tobin was previously Director of Global Studios at the Exploratorium, responsible for building partnerships and providing creative services to museums and science centers around the world.

Prior to joining the Exploratorium, he was an award winning toy inventor and founder of two successful educational toy development and manufacturing companies. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University.

 

Gerald McKeegan, Astronomer & JPA Board Member

Gerald McKeegan joined Chabot in the year 2000 as a volunteer and adjunct astronomer. Gerald serves on Chabot’s JPA Board of Directors, and is a member of the Eastbay Astronomical Society.

McKeegan holds a Master of Science Degree in Space Studies, and has over 40 years experience working in the space industry, where he was involved with numerous spacecraft projects, including the Space Shuttle, Cassini, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars InSight, Solar B, Juno and many others. In 1988, he was awarded the NASA “Silver Snoopy” award by the NASA Astronaut Office for his work in support of the Post-Challenger Space Shuttle Return to Flight program.

McKeegan also heads Chabot’s near-Earth asteroid search and tracking program, and has made more than two thousand asteroid observations using Chabot’s 36-inch telescope.

 

Alysia Rueda Caryl, Director of Education

Alysia Caryl has over 15 years of experience working in museums leading teams in the program development and evaluation of educational products for formal and informal partnerships between K-12 classrooms, informal out-of-school time spaces like afterschool programs, and museum collections.

In 2009, while working with the Tech Museum in San Jose, Caryl received a National Science Foundation fellowship (Center for the Advancement of Informal Education) for her work with underserved and underrepresented populations around STEM education, and in 2010, she was selected to serve as the regional Director of Education and Public Outreach for NASA.

Most recently, in her role as the Manager of Education and Evaluation at the San Jose Museum of Art, Caryl was the program director of the award winning STEAM initiative, Sowing Creativity and managed a team of talented museum educators in program design, curriculum development, and museum programming for over 45,000 students annually.

 

Liz Austerman, Director of Visitor Experience

Liz Austerman has over eighteen years of experience in senior management and public program development working in informal museum settings ranging from early learning to cultural and scientific focused institutions. A creative experience designer and experienced executioner of complex programs, Liz’s leadership thrives on talent management and building inclusive, high performing teams.

Liz has played key leadership roles at the Bay Area Discovery Museum, The Asian Art Museum, Habitot Children’s Museum, and The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. She currently oversees the sales, public programs, volunteers and exhibitions departments at Chabot Space & Science Center.

With a BA in Fine Arts from the Columbus College of Art & Design and a MA in Museum Studies from John F. Kennedy University, she helped play a founding role in forming the Bay Area Museums group and frequently guest lectures for Museum Studies classes in the Bay Area.

Chabot Space & Science Center is a non-profit institution and community resource whose mission is to inspire and educate learners of all ages about the Universe and Planet Earth.