Flagstaff Festival of Science
Past Keynote Speakers and Themes

1990 – Arctic Explorer Will Steger “Science from the Ground Up”
1991 – Apollo Astronaut Jack Schmitt “Science at its Peak”
1992 – Geophysicist Larry Soderblom “Our Changing Planet”
1993 – Paleontologist Walter Alvarez “Science and the Future”
1994 – Space Shuttle Astronaut Linda Godwin “The History of Science in Flagstaff”
1995 – Space Shuttle Astronaut Bonnie Dunbar “Envisioning the Future”
1996 – Ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin “Discover Science”
1997 – Futurist B. Gentry Lee “Science the Ultimate Voyage”
1998 – Storm Chaser Warren Faidley “Forces at Work”
1999 – Aerospace Engineer Donna Shirley “Science Rocks”
2000 – Paleontologist Jack Horner “Huge Impacts”
2001 – X-Files Consultant/Plant Virologist Anne Simon “Extreme Science”
2002 – Astronomer/Comet Discoverer Carolyn Shoemaker “Stellar Science”
2003 – Volcanologist Wendell Duffield “Science Erupts”
2004 – Paleontologist/”Lucy” Discoverer Donald Johanson “Life Forms”
2005 – Treetop Biologist Margaret ‘Canopy Meg’ Lowman “Swing Into Science”
2006 – Maritime Archaeologist James Delgado “Dive Into Science”
2007 – Paleontologist David Gillette “Dig Science”
2008 – Author Richard Preston “Zoom Into Science”
2009 – Apollo Astronaut Alan Bean “Launch Into Science”
2010 – Biospherian Jane Poynter “Livin’ Science”

2011 – Space Shuttle Astronaut John Grunsfeld “Illuminating Science”
2012 – National Geographic Emerging Explorer Alexandra Cousteau “Making Waves”
2013 – Mars Exploration Rover Principal Investigator Steve Squyres “Life in the Extreme”
2014 – DNA Expert Paul Keim “A Grand Adventure”
2015 – New Horizons Mission Principal Investigator Alan Stern “Exploring New Horizons”
2016 – Polar Explorer Will Steger “The Science of Change”
2017 – Mountaineer Kyle Maynard “Engineering Solutions”
2018 – Autonomous Vehicle Expert Raj Rajkumar “Accelerating into the Future”
2019 – Apollo 16 Lunar Module Pilot, General Charlie Duke “To the Moon and Beyond”
2020 – Earth Science Educator and Explorer Christa Sadler “Superpowers of Science”
2021 – Belizean Archeologist Jaime Awe “Stories in Stone”
2022 – Egyptologist Zahi Hawass “Pyramids to The Peaks”
2023 – Evolutionary Biologist Beth Shapiro “The Mammoth World of Science“