Myra Halpin, Ph.D.

Director of Teacher PD

Myra Halpin, Ph.D. is a science educator with more than fifty years of teaching experience, thirty of which were at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. For eleven years prior to retiring, she coached Conrad Finalist teams. After retiring, she is serving as a Conrad Challenge Judge. She has witnessed the evolution of the Conrad Challenge from the first year of national competition to the current international competition.  She was South Carolina’s  selection for the 1985 Teacher in Space and has work on several NASA project and had student experiments fly on Sounding Rockets and Zero-G flights. Myra helped in the founding of the Kamnoetvidya Science Academy, Wang Chon, Thailand by serving as teacher trainer and  Chemistry Curriculum Advisor 2014- present. She is National Board Certified and was a Presidential Teacher of Science in 1994. She has served as Dean of Science at NCSSM; the Executive Director of the NC Student Academy of Science as part of the AAAS student program; ACS – Chemistry Olympic Committee;  Founding faculty for Challenger Center; Chaired committee for North Carolina Chemistry Curriculum develop; authored 5 journal articles; and loves working with students.

Griffin Communications Group, Project Management 

Griffin Communications Group (GCG) works closely with the Conrad Foundation Executive Board to streamline overall operation and execution of the Conrad Challenge, all the while focusing on making each year's competition better than the last. GCG’s CEO, Gwen Griffin, served as a founding board member for the Conrad Foundation, but stepped down when her company took over operation of the competition several years ago. The following GCG team members work year-round on the Conrad Challenge:
 

Lauren Quesada

Lauren leads the Conrad team with a decade of marketing communications experience. She thrives in attention-to-detail and possesses a love of the full-circle process to create the best experience possible for Conrad participants, sponsors, judges and partners. She is passionate about ensuring the Foundation's mission to ignite an entrepreneurial spirit within students remains a continuous focus for the entire team. She also works closely with the Conrad Foundation Board of Directors to support the growth and sustainability of the Foundation.

Mollye Edinburgh

Mollye has more than a decade of experience in strategic visual and brand creation/management. She works with the Conrad Foundation to develop brand platforms and campaign strategies, focusing on how to bring visual elements to life to engage our student audiences. When she's not maintaining our website, she is working on student engagement and the logistics of the Conrad Challenge.

Kristin Kleven

Kristin has over 20 years of special event and administrative experience. She has worked with the Conrad Foundation since 2013 and has a strong passion for working with students and teachers. She manages the operations of the annual competition and coordinates all logistics for the Innovation Summit, our annual celebration closing out the Challenge year. She is our logistics queen, making sure our Summit is seamless year after year! She also works closely with our sponsors and Champion Partners on a daily basis.

McKenna Parr

A member of the team since 2018, McKenna works closely with student teams throughout the Challenge process to ensure they have the best experience possible. A recent college graduate herself, McKenna is dedicated to supporting Conrad students as they prepare for college and their careers. She is also the Conrad social media guru managing engagement, growth and communications.