Join us at Baltimore Storytelling Fest for five true, personal stories about science.

Hosted by Shane M Hanlon and Maryam Zaringhalam.

About the Baltimore Storytelling Fest

A mic, spotlight and a good story is all you need to take a room full of people on a journey. Baltimore Story Fest highlights the best and brightest storytellers in the region. Storytellers create a tapestry with their words that bring audiences into their worlds. Running from May 1 - 4. Learn more here.

STORIES BY:

Tom Di Liberto is a climate scientist and award-winning science communicator working as a public affairs specialist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Communication (as of March 29. He's been caught up in the government purges and is on administrative leave). As part of NOAA’s Ocean Today’s studio, he wrote and starred in NOAA’s first ever animated series Teek and Tom Explore Planet Earth. Previously he served as the senior climate scientist for NOAA’s Climate.gov and social media editor for the NOAAClimate accounts. In addition to his work at NOAA, Tom also served as the lead of the Department of State’s U.S. Center at the United Nationals climate change conference COP29 in 2024. He previously served as emcee of the Department of State’s U.S. Center at the United Nations climate change conferences COP21, COP22, COP26, COP27, and COP28. Fun fact: Tom performs regularly at the Washington Improv Theater on two house teams including the Hypothesis, a team Tom started and is full of scientists and science-lovers.

Cooper Joslin is a web developer, artist, and activist. They made their DC theater debut at Capital Fringe 2022 with their solo performance, Atemporal, earning a "Best of Fringe" designation from DC Theater Arts. Cooper has also performed at the Kennedy Center with Story District and off-broadway at Joe’s Pub in New York City with Generation Women. Their visual art has been featured in collections at the DC Commission of Arts & Humanities' I Street Gallery, the Rhizome, DuPont Underground, the DC LGBTQ Center, and As You Are. With a background in journalism, Cooper now uses their expertise to document the modern history of the transgender community through their growing oral history archive, The Trans Guide. Originally from Central Florida, Cooper now resides in Washington, DC, with their wife, two cats, puppy, and a cherished queer chosen family.

JiJi Lee is a comedy writer and performer. She has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Onion. And her work has been published in the McSweeney's humor anthology Keep Scrolling Till You Feel Something.