In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Administration Auditorium
Campus Drive
University of Idaho
Moscow, Idaho, 83843
United States

Craig McGowan

An Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Science and the WWAMI Medical Education Program at the University of Idaho. He received his Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University and was an NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Colorado, Boulder and the University of Texas, Austin. His research interests are centered on understanding the relationships between the musculoskeletal morphology of terrestrial vertebrate animals (including humans) and the biomechanics and neural control of locomotor performance. Current research projects include examining how hopping mammals meet the mechanical demands of complex terrain and understanding how below-knee amputee humans adapt to control prosthetic devices.

Farjahan Shawon

Farjahan Shawon is a 44-year-old single mom of two boys from Bangladesh. Currently living in Moscow Idaho, she was a middle and high school teacher for 13 years and a school principal for 2-years. Farjahan has two master's degrees in Public Administration and Educational Leadership Management and Planning and is currently working on her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Idaho. She’s also a passionate singer with a 5-year diploma in Indian Classical Music. Her dream is to conduct research on educational issues and to raise her boys to be good human beings.

Kristin Levier

Kristin LeVier is an artist who creates contemporary organic sculptures inspired by the complex, breathtaking spectacle of the natural world. She’s an MIT-trained former molecular biologist whose mission as an artist is to create innovative sculpture at the intersection of art and science. She carves and bends wood into tentacles, leaves, and wings that embody an ethereal sense of motion. Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries across North America, featured in books and magazines such as American Craft and spotlighted in a PBS short film. Kristin started building furniture as a hobby 25 years ago and immediately loved the mixture of design freedom and precision. This passion for creating objects eventually led her to leave behind her research career to focus on making art. She lives in Moscow, Idaho, where she is inspired by nature in all its forms, snow and ice, and the beautiful rolling hills that surround her.

Lynette Charity

Lynette Charity MD is an Anesthesiologist with over 35 years of experience “putting people to sleep.” Her medical career journey began as a child overcoming the obstacles of growing up in the projects in segregated Virginia and as a teenager, attending a predominantly White high school. She graduated from that high school with honors and after attending Chatham College for Women in Pittsburgh, PA and graduating with a BS in Biology-Chemistry, she received her MD degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. After her Anesthesiology residency at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, she completed medical fellowships in Neuroanesthesia and Obstetrical Anesthesia at UCSF Moffitt Hospital in San Francisco. She achieved the rank of Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. while teaching Anesthesiology residents and becoming an Asst. Chief of Anesthesia and Operative Services at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, WA. Dr. Charity resides in Gilbert, AZ with her husband of 40 years, Dr. Anthony Sado. They have two adult children and an 11-month old grandson who made them move from a small condo in a gated retirement community to a big house with a big backyard and a pool! When not being a babysitter, she enjoys memoir writing, improv and an occasional stand-up comedy open mic.

Rajani Dhingra

Rajani is a planetary enthusiast in her soul and a physicist by her education. She loves all things science and one of her passions is to explain science to 4-year-olds so that the younger ones are equally at aww as she is. She was involved with the Indian Space Research Organisation's first mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-1. Following her passion, she joined the University of Idaho to study Titan. She earns her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Idaho this spring and goes on to join NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to study Jupiter's moon called Europa.

Rebecca Tallent

Rebecca “Becky” Tallent is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Media at the University of Idaho, where she has taught since 2006. Before her teaching career, she was a reporter for 12 years covering oil & gas, the environment, and finance for a variety of news outlets. After leaving news, she worked in public relations, primarily for medical or technical state agencies. A member of the Native American Journalists Association since 1999, she serves on the NAJA Education Committee. She also has been a member of the Society of Professional Journalists since 1972, where she has served in several roles, including the National Board of Directors and the UI student chapter advisor. She earned both her BA and M.Ed. in journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma and her Ed.D. in classroom teaching/mass communications from Oklahoma State University.

Shane Needham

Shane Needham is a dad to four children. He received his B.S. degree in chemistry from Washington State University and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Rhode Island. Shane is a Co-Founder (entrepreneur) and Chief Scientific Officer of Alturas Analytics, Inc. in Moscow, ID. Alturas Analytics, Inc. employees more than 40 scientists and support staff to perform contract research for pharmaceutical and biotech companies worldwide. In 2014, Alturas Analytics, Inc. was voted as one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States by Inc. 5000. Shane is a champion bodybuilder and competitive powerlifter who was Head Coach and Director of Moscow Wrestling Club. He guest lectures at Washington State University in the science and entrepreneur departments and is a co-founder of the CPSA Foundation for science.

Sierra Rothermich

A student at the University of Idaho studying political science and public relations. She has a passion for representing students and serves as a Senator and Legislative Ambassador for the Associated Students of the University of Idaho. Advocating for equality and striving to empower others, Sierra worked as a journalist for the University of Idaho Women’s Center. She encourages us to be brave, by looking beyond social norms and ideologically driven beliefs, to face the problems in society and build a more united, freer and empowered world.