Author: Jeffrey Clark

Ronald Held has a Ph. D in astrophysics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As a fan since TOS, Star Tek has inspired his research and presentation topics.

Andrew Liptak is a writer and historian from Vermont. He is the Public Relation and Guest Services Coordinator for the Vermont Historical Society, and is the author Cosplay: A History (Saga Press, June, 2022). Liptak has worked as a journalist for more than a decade, appearing in places such as Clarkesworld Magazine, Gizmodo, Grist, io9, Kirkus Reviews, Lifehacker, OneZero, Pando Daily, Polygon, Slate, Tor.com, Uncanny Magazine, VentureBeat, The Verge, and other publications. He currently writes Transfer Orbit, a newsletter about the intersection of speculative fiction and real life.

Phil Merkel aka “Captain Phil” is a DJ on WUSB 90.1 fm radio and host of “Captain Phil’s Planet.” The Planet airs alternate Thursdays 3 pm to 5 pm and streams at www.wusb.fm if you are out of the WUBS listening area. Captain Phil embraces all music genres on his planet and most other planets as well. In a former life, Phil taught music for a Special Education agency on Long Island for 31 years. He is now retired and living in his secret underground headquarters somewhere in West Coxsackie, NY.

Annie Pasqua is a music educator, music director, composer, and performer whose credits include performances at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and Symphony Space. A student of noted concert pianist Morton Estrin, her choral compositions are featured in the Judith Clurman concert series, published by Hal Leonard. With her sister, Jenna, Annie is the composer/lyricist/librettist of TESS: A New Rock Opera, based on Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. She has been an avid Star Trek fan since childhood, and she and her husband, Deniz Cordell, were married by Walter Koenig.

Mike Rizzo is a lifetime Star Trek and SciFi Fan. He grew up watching classic SciFi TV like Star Trek the original series, Lost in Space, and Space 1999. Of course, in 1977 his world changed when Star Wars hit the theaters. Throughout the years he has collected and created props and memorabilia from the many movies and TV shows he loved. Mike worked in the TV broadcasting industry for 23 years with specialty in studio lighting and engineering. Mike has been a volunteer at the Set Tour since 2015. He currently hosts his own SciFi webcast called SciFi Distilled airing weekly on Facebook and YouTube!

Kent Schmidt was born in South Carolina, but was relocated to Upstate NY when he was a teenager. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science. He began working in retail environments until he started a 22-year career selling and leasing automobiles. A lifelong computer and electronic enthusiast, he transitioned into an IT management position with the Della Auto Group and now supports 250+ users with their technology issues. He is one year and one day younger than the original Star Trek, but was propped up in his crib to watch some of the original run. After Trek went into syndication, he rarely missed an episode after school and never during the summer months. He worked as a Production Assistant, then Grip, Key Grip, and finally, Gaffer for the long-running fan series Star Trek New Voyages/ Phase II. His study of Jerry Finnerman’s lighting techniques and practices and his application of those methods resulted in the high point of his lighting career when David Gerrold said “You are channeling Jerry Finnerman with your lighting. Kent, he would be proud of you.” His perspective on the Borg stems from an extensive Science Fiction library and decades of reading, watching, and studying Sci-Fi in all its forms.

Dr. Matthew Szydagis grew up with Star Trek: The Next Generation and after watching Lt. Cmdr. Data he realized that science officer was the position for him. He received his B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2005, 2006, and 2011 respectively, then continued his work in physics as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California Davis (2010-14).

Since 2014, Dr. Szydagis has been a member of the physics faculty at the University at Albany SUNY, pursuing experimental particle astrophysics, in particular direct laboratory detection of dark matter particles, underground. He works on the liquid-Xenon-based LZ experiment and with supercooled water (the “snowball chamber”), and is the developer of the NEST (Noble Element Simulation Technique) computer software.

Since 2019 Matthew has also been a member of UAPx, helping to seek answers regarding the true nature of UAP from a scientific perspective. Most recently, you can find him as a regular on the History Channel TV show “The Proof is Out There” and in the documentary film “A Tear in the Sky.”