By CASE Conference Committee: Focus Speaker Subcommittees

Our 2026 CASE Conference theme comes to life through this year’s Focus Speaker sessions. From community partnerships and environmental restoration to student leadership and fusion physics, these presentations will connect science educators with people putting scientific knowledge and practices to work across California.

Klamath River Restoration Project
Friday, November 6, 1:00 - 2:15 pm, Meeting Room 1
We are thrilled to welcome Kurt Bainbridge, Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), as a featured focus speaker at this year’s conference. As a key researcher involved in Northern California fisheries management, Bainbridge will bring attendees to the front lines of the historic Klamath River Restoration Project, one of the largest river and salmonid habitat recovery efforts in West Coast history. His presentation will offer educators a unique look at how field scientists monitor shifting ecosystems, track vulnerable fish populations, and apply real-world data to massive environmental transitions. Don't miss this opportunity to discover how cutting-edge habitat restoration can inspire you and the next generation of scientists in your classroom!

BEAM Circular Community Ambassadors Program
Saturday, November 7, 9:30 - 10:45 am, Meeting Room 1
What might students discover when agricultural byproducts such as almond shells, tomato pomace, and grapevines become the starting point for science, innovation, and sustainable design? Youth Ambassadors will join a program manager from BEAM Circular to introduce a paid program that immerses high school and college students in California’s growing circular bioeconomy. Through workshops, conversations with industry professionals, and visits to local sites, program participants explore how materials often considered waste can be transformed into energy, building materials, food ingredients, clothing, and other useful products. Conference attendees will have the special opportunity to hear directly from the young people participating in this work and consider what their experiences reveal about authentic STEM learning, youth leadership, workforce development, and community-connected science education.

Bringing Star Power to Earth (and the classroom) with the National Ignition Facility
Saturday, November 7, 1:00 - 2:15 pm, Meeting Room 1
For educators looking to deepen their content knowledge and explore cutting-edge laboratory research, this session features Dr. Patrick Poole, a Staff Research Scientist and Inertial Fusion Energy Workforce Development Coordinator at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Dr. Poole specializes in high-energy-density science and plasma physics, performing experiments at the historic National Ignition Facility (NIF), the site of the world’s first successful fusion ignition. Attendees will get a look into the mechanics behind the world's most energetic laser system. If you are a science educator who wants to engage directly with current physics research, learn a bit more about the mechanics of plasma optics, and connect current, authentic research to the phenomena you use in your classroom, don’t miss this session.

Teaching in the Homelands: Decolonizing Science and History by Prioritizing Indigenous Ways of Connecting to Land and Places
Saturday, November 7, 3:15 - 4:30 pm, Meeting Room 1
Focus Speakers Peggy Harte, Shelley Brooks, and Chris Griesemer will share an account of their work with local Indigenous practitioners, tribal communities, regional school districts, and a conservation non-profit through a summer institute and an ongoing community of practice.

Bringing Indigenous perspectives, voices, and knowledge into our California classrooms requires thoughtful and respectful planning. Hear them tell the story of developing and nourishing relationships with local Indigenous communities, gathering a community of learners (including elementary teachers), and leveraging cross-disciplinary perspectives to illuminate places for our students to deeply connect to homeland; the full history of California peoples, their own unfolding sense of place, and a better understanding of the interdependent web of life.

Together, these Focus Speaker sessions capture Science in Action across classrooms, communities, ecosystems, and research laboratories. Join us in Sacramento this November to hear their stories, explore new possibilities, and bring fresh ideas back to your own science education community.

Register for the conference today!

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