Karyn Traphagen is executive director and co-founder of ScienceOnline. She is acutely focused on supporting our global community in creative and responsive ways. She dreams possibilities for conversations and collaborations, digs into the details, and listens to your ideas — among the many reasons Karyn received the 2011 BlogTogether Community Service Award.

Karyn has a graphic design studio, volunteers at a local science museum, and tells stories about her mother’s postcards. She previously taught physics at the high school, undergraduate and graduate levels. As a teacher, she sought to connect the science of the curriculum with the everyday life of her students and to instill lifelong skills for learning. Karyn completed graduate work at the University of Virginia and also studied at the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa). She has trained physics teachers through the University of Virginia’s Physics department and traveled to South Sudan to conduct professional development training for local teachers.

She has more than 10 years of experience developing and teaching online courses, and she’s summited the 46 major Adirondack peaks. Karyn lives in Durham, North Carolina, in a house filled with Lego, books, a 3-D printer and lots of other toys. She writes about creativity on her blog, Stay Curious.