2022 SLAM JUDGES 

First elected in 1992, Supervisor Keith Carson serves as a member of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors - representing the 5th District - on a platform dedicated to inclusive and accessible government. The 5th District include the cities of Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Piedmont, and large portions of Oakland, namely the West Oakland, North Oakland, Rockridge, and Montclair neighborhoods, as well as portions of the Dimond, Bella Vista, and San Antonio districts. 

Supervisor Carson chairs several Alameda County committees and organizations including the East Bay Economic Development Alliance (East Bay EDA), the Alameda County Budget Work Group Committee, the Alameda County Personnel, Administration and Legislation Committee and is a member of the Alameda County Health Committee. 

He was born and raised in Berkeley, California. Supervisor Carson attended the John F. Kennedy School of Law and earned a Master of Public Administration from California State University Hayward and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

Carol Burns was recently appointed Deputy Director for Research and Chief Research Officer at Berkeley Lab. Burns joins the Berkeley Lab with deep experience in the DOE national laboratory system. In this role, she is responsible for the development, implementation, and stewardship of Berkeley Lab’s research enterprise, and serves as the Lab’s chief research liaison with the Office of Science, the University, the other national labs, and other key partners.

Carol brings more than 25 years of scientific leadership experience in a national laboratory setting, most recently serving as executive officer to the Deputy Director for Science, Technology, and Engineering at Los Alamos National Laboratory, assisting in oversight of line and DOE program organizations, as well as coordinating the integration of science and technology strategy, as well as associated investments and stewardship mechanisms.

Sophia Chen is a freelance science writer based in Columbus, Ohio. In her work, she seeks to tell stories about  technical topics for a variety of audiences, ranging from children to experts. She is living in the Bay Area this fall as the science communicator in residence at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing at UC Berkeley.

Originally a physicist, Sophia received a BA in physics from Oberlin College and a M.S. in physics from the University of Arizona in 2015, where she learned a lot about lasers. In 2012-13, she lived in China via a Fulbright fellowship to study the coal industry. She writes about physics, engineering, AI, and anything involving numbers for WIRED, Science, Protocol, and the American Physical Society. She also writes for Physics Girl, a YouTube channel with over 2.4 million subscribers.

Cecilia Fura is the Senior Manager of the Visiting Scholar and Postdoc Affairs Office (VSPA) where she oversees operations. She is driven by her dedication to fulfilling the mission of both the University of California and the VSPA Program. Cecilia has served the visiting researcher and postdoc communities for over 12+ years and is committed to making sure visitors to UC Berkeley have successful and rewarding experiences.

Cecilia has over 20 years of experience at the University of California and has worked spanning numerous academic departments, a dean’s office, and a students services unit. Cecilia has also worked at the UC Davis School of Medicine and UC Berkeley where she gained extensive experience in academic personnel, human resources, benefits, finance, and payroll.

Cecilia has served UC Berkeley on the Staff Basic Needs Working Group and Cal 1 Card Advisory Board (current member), the Division of Equity & Inclusion, the Staff Diversity Initiatives' Best Practices Benchmarking workshops, and as a member of the CSS HCM Work Group to improve Academic Personnel Processes. She’s also been a member of the Berkeley Staff Assembly and participated in a campus-level working group that led to the Campus Shared Services (CSS) Benefits platform. Cecilia has been recognized for her work with four SPOT Awards.

Cecilia is a proud indigenous Chamorro of the Pacific island of Guam where she was raised until moving to California in 2000. You can find Cecilia enjoying the great outdoors camping or near any body of water and traveling across Europe to explore her passion for all things medieval.

Jenn Tang is the Director of Community Relations at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.  As a member of the Lab’s Government and Community Relations team, she manages issues and projects in support of major Lab initiatives in collaboration with senior Lab officials and key scientific divisions.  She serves as the primary liaison to local and regional elected officials, economic development, and community-based organizations the Lab interfaces with.  Jenn has 20 years of experience in federal and community relations, public policy, and communications.  Prior to the Lab, she worked for U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and California Assembly Speaker pro Tem Fred Keeley. She received a B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.