NASAexplores Web Team

Mindi Capp
Education Program Specialist, Elementary School

Originally from Huntington, Indiana, Mindi moved to Huntsville to attend the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). She began working for NASAexplores as an intern while completing her degree. In December 2002, she graduated from the UAH with a BA in Elementary Education with a certification in Collaborative Education. She is currently a member of the Council for Exceptional Children. Prior work experience includes 4 years as a counselor at U.S. Space Camp, where she worked with elementary and middle school students from around the world.

In her free time, Mindi enjoys spending time with her husband and friends, listening to music, reading, and traveling.

 

Brent Copeland
Web Author

Brent maintains the NASAexplores web site by updating and editing text and graphic content used for the lesson plans. He also designs and maintains various other NASA web sites. His experience includes over 10 years as a freelance web page designer. Over 7 years with various NASA websites.

Brent spends his spare time with his wife, son, daughter and 2 dogs. He is also a budding independent film director.

Dawn Gaddis
Web Author/Marketing Specialist

Dawn brings 14 years of marketing and communications experience to the NASAexplores team. She has held writing, editing, public relations, trade show management, marketing, and presales positions at various corporations. Dawn concentrates her efforts on maintaining the NASA Alumni Exchange (ALEX) web site, editing NASAexplores materials, and promoting the NASAexplores program in the media and at trade shows and educational conferences.

Dawn earned her Bachelor of Arts in English with Cognate Studies in Technical Writing from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

In her free time, Dawn enjoys spending time with her son, family, and friends, traveling, and reading. She also volunteers on numerous community projects throughout the year.

 

JoCasta Green
Education Program Specialist, Elementary School

JoCasta received her BS in Elementary Education from the University of Montevallo. She has a Master's degree in Elementary Education from Alabama A&M. She has 25 years of classroom experience. JoCasta has attended Space Camp, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, and National Geographic's Summer Geography Institute. She has served as a training facilitator for Project WILD and NatureScope, which are interdisciplinary environmental conservation K-12 education projects. JoCasta has written curriculum guides for local schools and Indian education programs. She has served as a regional reviewer for Scott Foresman science textbooks.

JoCasta enjoys traveling with her husband and two daughters. She volunteers backstage with a local theater company. She is past president of an organization that produces original ballets.

Maggie Griffin
Science Writer

Maggie Griffin brings 15 years of journalistic experience to NASAexplores. She's written feature and news articles for newspapers, magazines, and Internet web sites, specializing in health, education, and family-related stories. For NASAexplores, Maggie will take the highly complex language of aerospace research and development and "translate" it into plain English that the average person can more easily understand. Maggie is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists , and received her educational training at Beaver College and Thiel College, both in Pennsylvania.

Maggie is the mother of two teenagers and spends most of her free time with school-related activities and projects.

 

David Hitt
Science Writer

David Hitt hopes that his work on the NASAexplores web site will help instill in today’s youths the excitement about America’s space program that he felt as a child (and adult) by writing articles about the interesting things going on at NASA. A graduate of the University of Mississippi, David brings 6 years of journalism experience to the team, having served as a reporter and editor for several weekly newspapers. His previous Internet experience includes creation of an on-line comic strip site, hatbag.net. He enjoys reading, writing, Internet and multimedia projects, and spending time with his wife.

Randy Jordan
Sr. Software Engineer/Internet Specialist

Randy brings over 15 years of various software and application development experience to the NASAexplores team. He has developed numerous Windows Desktop and Internet scripting tool capabilities to automate and solve complex system processes during his career. Randy earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from Athens State University.

Randy designed , developed and integrated all database infrastructures for the NASAexplores web site.

He spends some of his spare time traveling and relaxing at home with his wife Deborah.

 

Jeremy Raper
Team Leader
Education Program Specialist, High School

Jeremy Raper received his BS in Physics from the University of Louisville in Louisville, KY, in 1993. He went on to complete an MS in Physics from the same school in 1995. He came to Huntsville to work on his PhD in Physics. While here, he met and married his wife and began teaching at high school physics after receiving a Secondary Education Certificate. Jeremy has been awarded the Golden Apple Teacher of the Year in 2000, selected as a member of Who's Who in Teachers, nominated as a Disney Teacher of the Year 2002, and maintained a website for his students to provide help on homework, slides of class notes, and information about upcoming events.

He and his wife have two daughters. They are active members of their church, teaching a Sunday school class and singing in the choir.