Fascination of Science: A Conversation with Herlinde Koelbl

Herlinde Koelbl, born in Lindau, Germany, is a renowned photographer and visual artist known for her profound exploration of social and political themes. She gained international acclaim for her long-term projects, including "Angela Merkel: Portraits 1991-2021) and "Jüdische Portraits" (Jewish Portraits). Koelbl's work has been exhibited worldwide and is housed in prestigious collections such as the New York Public Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. She has received numerous awards for her contributions to photography and journalism, including the Erich Salomon Prize. Koelbl's evocative imagery continues to provoke thought and inspire dialogue on the complexities of contemporary society.

Joachim Frank, born in Siegen, Germany, is a distinguished scientist celebrated for his pioneering work in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). He earned his Ph.D. in biophysics from the Technical University of Munich in 1970. Frank's groundbreaking contributions to cryo-EM methodology earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017. He has held various prestigious positions, including Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University. In addition, Joachim Frank has written numerous short stories, prose poems and several novels. His novel AAN ZEE has been published by University Press of the South and many of his other works have appeared in online journals. Frank's legacy continues to inspire scientists worldwide, shaping the field of structural biology for generations to come.

Barbara Knappmeyer is the Associate Director for Fellowships at the New York Academy of Sciences. In this role she oversees the Academy’s portfolio of scientific fellowship programs including the Leon Levy Scholarships in Neuroscience and the Artificial Intelligence and Society Fellowships. Dr. Knappmeyer joined the New York Academy of Sciences 2019 as a program manager for scientific conferences in the life sciences department where she managed a portfolio of symposia on topics such as Neuroscience, Cancer Immunotherapy, Chemical Biology, and Medicine to public panel discussions on popular neuroscience topics. She received her PhD from the Max-Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany and continued her neuroscience research as a post-doctoral fellow at the center for Neural Science at NYU. In addition, she worked in various roles communicating science to broad audiences at the American Museum of Natural History and designing online courses for the World Science Foundation.