Theme: Illuminate. Innovate. Inspire.

At TEDxBTNSchool, students and teachers from the BASIS Tucson North community will share their ideas about the world, with topics ranging from the relation of humanities and STEM to the impact of anxiety and procrastination in a high-stress environment and even to the life of stars. These talks are designed for an audience at BASIS Tucson North, and for the broader Tucson community.

The overall theme of the conference, Illuminate. Innovate. Inspire., explores the impact of ideas on the human experience and what these ideas mean.

BASIS Tucson North
5740 E River Rd
Tucson, Arizona, 85750
United States

Abhinav Justhy

Student

Abhinav is a sophomore. Aside from school, he also participates in karate. His talk is about his experience from living in 4 different countries. The message of his talk is that if one puts in enough effort, they will be able to achieve it.

Andrew Pongratz

Student

Andrew is a sophomore. His first language is actually Hungarian and not English. His talk today will focus on the fundamentals of what makes a theatre class so special and unique.

Bellamy Bailey

Student

Bellamy Bailey is a 9th grader who is interested in astronomy. She is also a competitive swimmer and is the principal harpist of the Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra. She does digital art in her free time. She will be talking about the life of stars - how they are born, how they live, how they die, and beyond. She will also briefly explain neutron stars and black holes.

Dr. Ann Zabludoff

Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona

Ann Zabludoff is a Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona. She has led studies across extragalactic astronomy and cosmology, including analyses of large observational datasets and theoretical simulations. She has worked to adapt astronomical instruments for new science. She also is a member of UA’s Data Science Institute, with interests in machine learning, image analysis, and large scale visualization. After obtaining S.B. degrees in Physics (1986) and in Mathematics (1987) from MIT, she received a Ph.D. in Astronomy from Harvard University in 1993. She was a Guggenheim Fellow in 2013-14, a TEDxTucson speaker in 2012, and the Caroline Herschel Distinguished Visitor at the Space Telescope Science Institute in 2011–2013. Her service includes advising the NSF, NASA, and international research institutes. She has mentored numerous junior scientists and was Graduate Program Director for UA Astronomy from 2005 to 2013, supervising 40-50 Ph.D. students at a time.

Dr. Homee Shroff

AP Government and Politics and AP Human Geography Teacher at BASIS Tucson North

Dr. Shroff received his Ph.D. from Boston University in Regional Economics. He then went on to study law receiving his Juris Doctorate from De Paul University in Chicago. Dr. Shroff is a licensed attorney in the State of Illinois and has been granted admission to D.C. Court of Appeals. Dr. Shroff has worked with Cook County Criminal Prosecutions Hate Crimes Division, City of Chicago Civil Prosecutions and a private legal firm in Chicago where he was involved with trials and arbitration. He was also a solo practitioner doing immigration work for 10 years before joining BASIS. He was Executive Vice President of a mining and research corporation introducing projects in environmental remediation. He has taught in colleges and universities as adjunct faculty for 30 years.

Dr. John Bauschatz

Associate Professor of History and Classics at the University of Arizona

John Bauschatz is Associate Professor of History and Classics at the University of Arizona, where he has worked for the past (almost) 13 years. He has a BA in Classical Studies from Brown University and a PhD in the same from Duke University. In his time in academia, John has taught a number of different courses on subjects ranging from handbooks and how-to guides in the ancient world to crime and punishment in classical antiquity. His scholarly work focuses on Ptolemaic Egypt and the primary documents, papyri, which illuminate that society, and, in particular, what they tell us about law and crime under the Ptolemies. He lives in Tucson with his three kids and enjoys ice skating, crossword puzzles, Eegee's fries and puns, especially the bad ones.

Lucy Scott

Student

A sophomore who despite living in Tucson for 10+ years uses ?y?all? way too frequently. She enjoys spending time with her dogs and drinking Dutch Bros. Her talk today is about the toxic mentality surrounding high school grades and her personal experience with it.

Raya Shafeeq

Student

Raya is currently a senior. She was born in the Maldives and has lived in four different states since she moved to the U.S. when she was one. Her talk will be discussing the nature of human communication in the timescale of radioactive waste.

Samuel Parra

Student

A junior, Sammy plays the guitar and soccer. His talk is about his time as a student leader in Outdoor School. He will focus on his experience teaching and being in charge of 6th graders for a week at Trickle Creek Outdoor School.

Sasha McDonald

Student

Sasha is currently a junior with a passion for Timberlands, Doc Martins, and drawing, Her speech is about how the humanities (art, music, literature, history, etc) need to be as respected as STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) subjects.