STEMarts Bootcamps

STEMarts Bootcamps are held four times a year in partnership with UNM Taos HIVE in Taos, New Mexico. These full-day training sessions feature guest scientists and artists who share their expertise and showcase exciting career opportunities in new media art, and cutting-edge science and technology.

LOCATION: UNM Taos HIVE
1146 Gusdorf Road, Taos, NM

The STEMarts Bootcamps prepare students to serve as STEMarts Ambassadors for traveling sci-art installations that explore the universe and expand our perceptions as planetary citizens. The workshops are free, and once trained, students receive stipends for their roles as experience guides and peer instructors at future events. Lunch and snacks are provided. Travel stipends for students traveling long distances to attend.

Topics we explore

XR design, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, 3D modeling and creative coding, projection mapping, event production, installation design, ethics and creativity with AI, particle physics, astrophysics, space science and policy.

Enrollment for STEMarts Ambassador program is ongoing. Please register here.

Bootcamps 2025

Designing Futures with AI
This year’s STEMarts Bootcamp series is all about diving into the exciting science behind particle physics, astrophysics, space exploration, and artificial intelligence. It’s your chance to explore how our universe works, how AI can help us create and imagine, and how everything is connected. Through hands-on workshops that mix art, science, technology, and AI, you’ll learn to break down complex ideas, share them in creative ways, and use cutting-edge tools to imagine new worlds. You’ll also collaborate with the STEMarts creative team, gaining professional skills in teamwork, innovation, and project development. This series boosts your knowledge about space and AI while helping you learn to use AI as a tool for designing imaginative and sustainable futures. Special thanks to the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation for sponsoring our new AI for Social Good program.

Complete three STEMarts Bootcamps and receive a STEMarts Ambassador certificate to work as XR experience guides at our events. Become eligible for paid internships!

Thank you to our host and sponsor, UNM Taos HIVE, for making these Bootcamps possible!

Free All Day Workshops 9-5pm | Location: UNM Taos HIVE | 1146 Gusdorf Drive, Taos, NM 87571 Lunch and snacks provided

Welcoming Cohort 2025 – Imagining Our Shared Future

Bootcamp #1: January 4, 2025. | 9-5pm

REGISTER HERE: https://tinyurl.com/BootcampParticlePhysics

Kick off the new year with an inspiring day of collaboration and discovery! This workshop is all about welcoming new Apprentices and Ambassadors while reconnecting with returning participants. You’ll meet our incredible STEAM Team of instructors, dive into the exciting programs planned for the year, and build connections with your peers.

Meet the STEAM Team Instructors:

Ian Harrison: Explore creative coding and projection art, Arwen Hubbard w/Shaylee Mirabal: Learn about space literacy and AstroTours., Cyndi Coon: Unlock the possibilities of AI Futures Thinking, Ian Harrison: Discover XR Design with insights from Ambassador Feliciana Mitchel-Gonzales, Andres Peralta (virtual): Learn to develop social media strategy and creating impactful content.

Exploring the Universe through Particle Physics

Bootcamp#2: January 25, 2025 | 9-5pm

REGISTER HERE: https://tinyurl.com/BootcampParticlePhysics

Unveiling the Building Blocks of the Universe

Shane Wood:  Dive into the fundamentals of particle physics with hands-on activities that make complex concepts easy to understand. Discover how the tiniest components of matter shape our universe. Create sci-art visuals with projection mapping using iPads and the Tagtool AI app.

Dr. Steven Goldfarb: Beaming in live from the ATLAS Detector at CERN. ATLAS is one of three enormous high-precision particle physics detectors located at the points where proton beams collide in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Steve will walk you around and all over the detector, describing the experiment, its successful discoveries and what more it hopes to achieve in the coming years.

Work with Ian Harrison to learn projection mapping with TagTool to create stunning sci-art creations.

Discover the Wonder of Space Exploration

Bootcamp #3: March 8, 2025 | 9-5pm

REGISTER HERE:  https://tinyurl.com/BootcampAstrophysics

Explore the fascinating stories of the cosmos-from the evolution of stars to cultural narratives about the universe through astrophysics. Develop space science literacy while tapping into your creative side with custom GPTs and creative coding.

Dr. Nicole Lloyd Ronning: Dive into the latest research in astrophysics and learn about stellar evolution. Dr.Julia Blue Bird: Share Indigenous perspectives on astronomy, exploring the cultural and ethical dimensions of space science. Arwen Hubbard: Expert in weaving space literacy into engaging and accessible workshop narratives. Collaborate with Ian Harrison and Markus Dorninger to create projection art with Tagtool art inspired by your space explorations.

Build New Worlds in AI

Bootcamp#4: April 26, 2025 | 9-5pm

REGISTER HERE: https://tinyurl.com/BootcampAIFutures

 From Local Roots to Cosmic Responsibility. Discover the exciting possibilities of AI for creativity, learning, and exploration. In this Bootcamp, you’ll collaborate to train an AI scout to explore the universe and learn to use AI as a tool for designing imaginative and sustainable futures. Participate in hands-on visualization and creation exercises to imagine bold, alternative futures with AI.

Instructors

Cyndi Coon will guide participants through hands-on workshops exploring how AI can be used as a tool for artistic expression, storytelling, and world-building. Students will engage in collaborative AI exercises, learning how to harness emerging technologies for imaginative and sustainable design.

Cyndi Coon sees data as a creative material—just like paint, clay, or words—a medium for shaping ideas, telling stories, and imagining the future. As an applied futurist and creative, she guides participants through hands-on AI worldbuilding, helping them explore how emerging technologies can be used for speculative fiction, storytelling, and designing human-centered futures.

In this immersive AI Worldbuilding Bootcamp, participants will embark on a journey of speculative fiction creation, using AI as a collaborative storytelling partner. Guided by the Terra Prime Cards, created by Dr. Manuel Montoya,  teams will develop original futuristic worlds, characters, and narratives, blending scientific principles, cultural perspectives, and imaginative speculation.

Key Goals of the Bootcamp Series

Build Scientific Literacy: Dive into particle physics, astrophysics, and space science to better understand the universe.

Fuse Art and Technology: Learn innovative ways to communicate complex ideas through digital media and immersive experiences.

Inspire Ethical Reflection: Consider the societal and ethical dimensions of science and technology to develop a planetary perspective.

Foster Collaboration: Experience the power of interdisciplinary teamwork to address real-world challenges.

Speakers and Instructors

Students learn from our team of creative professionals: particle physicists, astrophysicists, new media artists, space lawyers, NASA Ambassadors, and more. They explore career pathways in new media arts, physics and the space industry, develop valuable 21st century work skills and get trained to become a STEMarts Ambassador for paid leadership opportunities.

Sophia Dagnello

Sophia is a science communication visualization designer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. If you ever wondered if those images of black holes and galaxies from the James Webb Telescope (JWT) are real or simulated her presentation answers those questions. She shares how the data is collected from the telescope and graphically prepared for viewing with special software. Sophia then shares a free software that allows students to create images for themselves from the JWT raw data. Students can submit their visualizations to a NASA competition.

Michelle Hanlon

Michelle is Co-Director of the Air & Space Law Program at the University of Mississippi School of Law, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Space Law and Faculty Advisor for the Journal of Drone Law and Policy. Michelle co-founded For All Moonkind a nonprofit that is the only organization in the world focused on protecting human cultural heritage in outer space. She was instrumental in the development of the One Small Step Act. For All Moonkind is a Permanent Observer to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Michelle is also President of the National Space Society.

Dr. Steven Goldfarb

Steven is an experimental particle physicist working for the University of Melbourne on the ATLAS Experiment at CERN. He chairs the International Particle Physics Outreach Group, coordinates University of Michigan research programs at CERN, and is a fellow of the American Physical Society, serving on the Committee for Informing the Public.

Dr. Julia Bluebird

Dr. Julia Blue Bird is currently a Jansky Fellow at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Socorro, New Mexico She has earned three master’s degrees, one in electrical engineering from the University of Southern Florida and two from Columbia University in philosophy and astronomy and in astrophysics. Julia was born on the Pine Ridge reservation in S. Dakota and is involved with building holistic pathways for Indigenous people to share and celebrate Indigenous knowledge. She is currently working on creating a program to connect the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) with the surrounding Indigenous communities. 

OMAi Team

Markus Dorninger and the OMAi team are the projection artists that create the visuals for Space Messengers, integrating all the components.  OMAI is a digital art collective and creative software company based in Vienna, Austria. They are the creators of the live animation app called Tagtool app. They stand for a new, spontaneous and collaborative approach to digital creation.

Dr. Nicole Lloyd Ronning

Nicole is an astrophysicist at Los Alamos National Lab, where she studies the black holes created in the deaths of massive stars, and leads the outreach efforts on behalf of the Center for Theoretical Astrophysics. She is also on the faculty of the University of New Mexico, Los Alamos where she teaches physics.

Dr. Andrea Albert

Dr. Andrea Albert is devoted to scientific outreach. She is an astrophysicist at Los Alamos National Lab and specializes in searching for gamma rays from dark matter interactions in space. She received her PhD from The Ohio State University in 2013. Dr. Albert is committed to sharing her love of astrophysics with everyone and has spoken with all kinds from kindergarten classrooms to US Congressional offices. Andrea found inspiration in the STEMarts Avatar station, design by her partner Dylan Zanow, and went on to create a fabulous YouTube series of physics video snippets.

Ubaldo Ciminieri

Ubaldo “The Space Ace” Ciminieri is a podcast host, panel moderator, and Chief of Staff at CisLunar Industries. He focuses on advancing sustainable manufacturing in space through his expertise in talent strategy and communications. Ubaldo also hosts several podcasts, including Liftoff! and The Human Everywhere Podcast, and advocates for workplace safety and inclusion.

Alessandro Straccia

Alessandro, a Creative Technologist hailing from Brazil, has more than 15 years of experience in the Creative Technology field, with emphasis in Augmented and Virtual Reality. He worked for the main agencies and studios from Brazil, the UK and the US, helping clients such as Amazon Music, MAC Cosmetics, Kraft Foods and much more, to deliver rich creative projects for web and mobile devices. He has recently published “Interactive Web Development with Three.js and A-Frame.” His book is packed with insights from his eight-year journey with Three.js, aimed at inspiring your next digital project.

Ian Harrison

Ian Harrison is a 3D artist, animator, and programmer with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Digital Arts from UNM. With 14 years of experience in Blender 3D and 6 years in programming, Ian’s work blends fantasy and realism, reflecting his passion for space, video games, art, and science. This past year, Ian worked as the lead animator and editor for several live musical performance visual productions before joining Syncronos Design Inc. as the IT specialist. At Syncronos, he contributes to a full-length animated film about the world around us. That year, Ian also led enemy development for the game Botnyst and showcased an interactive projection piece in “Edge Conditions.”

Julia Doke

Julia Doke is a born and bred New Mexican who graduated from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelors in Animation and Digital Arts. She is an emerging 3D Generalist and illustrator who draws inspiration from the natural world and the different organic compounds and interactions that occur on our planet and beyond. Julia aspires to use 3D design and animation to bring people’s attention to all of the miraculous and complex life cycles and ecosystems that many people take for granted. She is dedicated on taking an artistic approach to educate people about the biological world that surrounds them what lies beyond our skies. 

Shane Wood

Shane Wood is a member of the QuarkNet National staff, and is a science/STEAM coach in the Mounds View Public Schools near Minneapolis, MN. With QuarkNet, he works with teachers and scientists around the country and around the world to provide opportunities for students to learn about science and the world around them through the analysis of real data, including particle physics data.

Arwen Hubbarb

Arwen Hubbard is a passionate space science educator and ecologist, holding undergraduate degrees in Resource Management and Agricultural Ecology, as well as a Master of Science in Space Studies with a focus on Planetary Science. Currently pursuing her doctorate in STEM education, Arwen’s mission is to ignite curiosity about the Universe. Based in the Northern New Mexico, Arwen teaches space science online to learners of all ages. She’s also a NASA Solar System Ambassador, an author, a science scriptwriter for educational channels, and an avid podcaster, with a focus on translating complex topics into language for learners of all ages.

Frank Tavares

Frank Tavares is a science writer joining the MIT Space Enabled Research Group as an Affiliated Researcher, conducting research exploring an anti-colonial approach to space exploration, particularly in how to approach interactions with other planetary bodies. They have experience in science communications, astronomy, interactive and prose fiction, playwriting, and more. As a communicator, they have written on topics ranging from astrobiology to quantum computing, aiming to contextualize complex information into human terms. Working with an interdisciplinary group of scholars, they also were the lead author of “Ethical Exploration and the Role of Planetary Protection in Disrupting Colonial Practices,” a submission to the 2023-2032 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey.

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