Laura Helft, Ph.D.

I oversee content, create new courses, and provide creative direction for Bird Academy. I am a biologist-turned-media producer and educator, and I love creating excitement and enthusiasm about the natural world and what we know (and don’t know!) about it. Taking a course online should be fun, engaging, and enrich your life. I strive to bring all these elements to our courses for as many learners as possible.

Prior to joining the Lab, I worked in the Department of Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, where I researched films for PBS, IMAX, classrooms, and the silver screen. I also implemented outreach campaigns for those films, creating websites, events, and social media campaigns to increase the reach and impact of our work. My doctorate is in molecular biology, but I have worked on science films about everything from vaccines to mass extinctions to space exploration. I am a native upstate New Yorker who is happy to be back in the land of true winter.