Dr. Thea Iberall is an award-winning writer, storyteller, and scientist. She was the editor of The Hummingbird Review. She has written one poetry book, a novel, three scientific texts, a memoir, and many plays. She’s had over 50 poems published in journals and anthologies including The Southern California Anthology, Spillway, poetic diversity, and numerous other journals. Many of her poems have been published in anthologies about the Holocaust. Thea was a semi-finalist in the 2014 Mary Ballard Poetry Chapbook Prize and also in the Atlanta Review International Poetry Competition. She has written 12 plays and musicals including We Did It For You! Women’s Journey Through History. www.theaiberall.com
Shirley Riga has been living her spiritual path. She is a Certified Psychosynthesis Counselor and a sound healer. She created OUR CARE Support Group for parents and caregivers of chronically-ill and special needs children. As a single parent raising two daughters, she was a court reporter for 25 years. Riga is licensed to offer Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway Workshops in the Boston area. The author of Tools for the Exceptional Parent of a Chronically-Ill Child, Riga talks to groups of parents and caregivers about the process of finding empowerment through adversity. www.shirleyriga.com
Katy Z. Allen spent her childhood exploring the woods, fields and streams of her southwestern Wisconsin home and has been connected to the outdoors ever since. After her conversion to Judaism, she began teaching Hebrew school, eventually getting her Masters in Jewish Studies from Hebrew College in Newton, MA. In 2005, she received her rabbinic ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in Yonkers, NY. She started her own outdoor congregation, Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope, which now has a thriving outdoor children’s Jewish learning program, Y’ladim BaTeva. Rabbi Allen is the founder of the Jewish Climate Action Network-MA, and has considered much of her climate work to be eco-chaplaincy. She has co-authored several children’s science books and edited Falling Light and Waters Turning: Adventures in Being Human in Word and Image, and Earth Etudes for Elul: Spiritual Wisdom for the Season. https://www.mayantikvah.org
David W. Chandler received his Master of Divinity degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary, Lancaster, PA in 2004. He served the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg, PA as Intern Minister and was ordained by them in 2005. In 2006, he served the Thomas Paine UU Fellowship, Collegeville, PA, and he was called to the UU Church of Saco and Biddeford, Saco, ME. Chandler went on to serve as an Interim Minister at the UU Fellowship of the Eastern Slopes, Tamworth, NH and at First Parish UU Medfield, MA.
Arthur S. Iberall (1918-2002) was a theoretical physicist whose research at the NASA Exobiology Program into the dynamics of mammalian physiological processes led to the development of homeokinetics, the physics of complex systems. He was chief physicist at Rand Development Corporation and General Technical Systems and a consultant to various government agencies. His applied work contributed to the development of the first space suit, the high speed dental drill, breathing regulators, fiberglass cutters, and major home appliances. He taught courses at UCLA Crump Institute in complex systems. Dr. Iberall published over 200 papers and authored books including Foundations for Social and Biological Evolution (1993) and Toward A General Science Of Viable Systems (1972).