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).

Arts & Sciences Auditorium
University of Wyoming
1000 E University Ave
Laramie, Wyoming, 82071
United States

Donal Skinner

Dean of the University of Wyoming’s Honors College

Donal C. Skinner received his PhD from the University of Cambridge, England in 1994, following a BS in Zoology and Computer Science from Rhodes University in South Africa. After post-doctoral fellowships at Cambridge and INRA in France, he was appointed to an Assistant Professorship at the Vet school at the University of Bristol before relocating to the University of Wyoming in 2002. His research during the past 30 years has focused on the seasonal mechanisms driving hormone secretion and, most recently, on the roles of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) outside the neuroendocrine reproductive axis. Skinner has published 80 papers in scientific journals, mostly on hormones secreted by the brain. He is a member of the Society of Neuroscience, British Neuroendocrine Society, and the Society for Reproduction and Fertility. He is an editorial board member of Neuroendocrinology and the Journal of Endocrinology and Reproduction.

Kent Noble

Bill Daniels Chair of Business Ethics

Kent Noble is the Bill Daniels Chair of Business Ethics at the University of Wyoming College of Business. Kent has a rich background in higher education, college athletics, and the television/film industry, as well as a passion for working with college students and business/community leaders on a local and national level. In 2018, Kent received the Professor of the Year distinction at the University of Wyoming College of Business. The annual award is selected by students in their graduating semester and goes to the faculty member who had the largest impact on them during their collegiate career. Also in 2018, Kent received the Campus Being a Difference Award by the NASBA Center for the Public Trust. Kent was recently appointed by former Governor Matt Mead to the Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics. He also currently serves on the board of directors of the John P. Ellbogen Foundation and the Better Business Bureau Institute for Marketplace Trust.

Michael Brotherton

Professor of Astronomy + Science Fiction Author

Mike Brotherton is a professor of astronomy at the University of Wyoming where he investigates the most luminous active galactic nuclei, the quasars. Powered by supermassive black holes, quasars outshine the galaxies within which they exist and shape the course of their evolution. He is the director of the Wyoming Infrared Observatory, and also uses the Hubble Space Telescope, the Very Large Array in New Mexico, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and other telescopes in his research. Additionally, he is the author of the science fiction novels Star Dragon and Spider Star, as well as a number of short stories. He has edited several anthologies, most recently Science Fiction by Scientists. Finally, he is the founder of the Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop for Writers, which brings professionals to Wyoming every summer.

Rachel Watson

Senior Academic Professional Lecturer + Director of the Science Initiative Learning Actively Mentoring Program (LAMP)

Rachel Watson received her M.S. in Molecular Biology from the University of Wyoming in 2001, following a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Denver. Rachel serves as a Senior Academic Professional Lecturer in the Department of Molecular Biology. She is the director of the Science Initiative Learning Actively Mentoring Program (LAMP) and the Queer Studies Minor Program. She is also the volunteer co-coach of the UW Men’s and Women’s Nordic Ski Team.