People

Steven Brown, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Teaching Philosophy, The Ohio State University

Steve received his B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. from the Ohio State University. His work primarily focuses on cross-cultural philosophy of religion, virtue ethics, and the promotion of global flourishing. He has recently taken an interest in UFOs and related phenomena, exploring their potential impact on our self-understanding as humans, especially with regard to our place in the universe.

Steve has lectured on the epistemology and practical importance of recent UAP-related events in Washington, D.C. and is currently working with a team of research scientists attempting to understand the Nazca Mummies.

In 2023, Steve was awarded the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching for his work at Ohio State.

Janis Whitlock, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Research Scientist Emerita

Janis received a B.A. from UC Berkeley, an M.P.H. from UNC-Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University. In addition to over a decade of direct service in the areas of human health and wellbeing, she has spent the last 25 years as a scholar focused on contextual and intrapersonal conditions that affect human development, perception, and emotional and mental (in)stability. She has been particularly interested in understanding the conditions under which challenging experiences cultivate wisdom, resilience, and prosocial impulses.

Janis’s scholarly work is informed by several decades of study of indigenous spiritual traditions and practice of yogic traditions, particularly those rooted in Kashmir Shaivism. It is the fusion of these broad domains that lead her to her current interest in consciousness and pathways for supporting individual and collective adaptation in the wake of ontological shock.

Alaina Hardie

Director of Technology

Alaina has worked in programming, engineering, robotics, software architecture, data science, and information security over 38 years. After completing the Graduate Studies Program (GSP ‘11) at Singularity University, she served as a Teaching Fellow in “Networks & Computing Systems” and “Digital Biology,” and held the position of Chief Maker. She is the co-author of the genetic testing e-book “Genetics: The Universe Within (2017)”, and is currently a Principal Engineer.

Her academic interests center on bioinformatics, particularly genomics and human migration, which she examines through the framework of population genetics. She is curious about how shifting genetic landscapes can shed light on shared human heritage. In addition to her work in genomics, she applies scientific methods to the study of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), exploring how potential non-terrestrial evolutionary models might inform our broader understanding of life’s origins and possibilities.

At The Visible College, she oversees technical projects and collaborates with colleagues to blend computational approaches with research in various academic fields. Her background in technology and long-standing enthusiasm for interdisciplinary studies guide her investigations, while her practical experience supports a balanced perspective on emerging areas of inquiry.

Rebecca Krinke

Artist-in-Residence, The Visible College; Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota

Rebecca Krinke is a transdisciplinary artist, designer, researcher, and educator whose practice, Earthling School, explores relational ways of learning and being between humans, all species, and the Earth — including non-human intelligences and the larger cosmos. As a lifelong experiencer of psi phenomena, she is dedicated to opening doors within academia to recognize these encounters as a legitimate and vital aspect of the human experience.

Krinke’s work is grounded in “two-eyed seeing,” a framework through which she investigates perception, consciousness, and synchronicity by collaborating directly with scientists and Indigenous Knowledge Keepers at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve and the Bernard Field Station. Krinke was recently invited to speak about Earthling School at “In the Cloud of Unknowing: Encounters with the UFO Phenomenon” at Mildred’s Lane. She disseminates her work through artist residencies, including at the Weisman Art Museum, gallery shows (the Pitzer College Art Gallery, 2025), writing (book chapter forthcoming in Artful Science, Ecological Arts: Transdisciplinary Curiosity for Creating Beautiful Futures, David Syring, PhD, editor), and experiential, participatory works. Krinke taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design before joining the University of Minnesota faculty. She is the recipient of the 2026 ASLA-MN Lob Pine Award for leadership in landscape architecture.

Sioux Oliva, Ph.D.

Historian and Author

Sioux earned her Ph.D. in History from the University of Southern California in 1999. Her career has centered on project management for high net worth individuals and institutions. Her first project was managing a non-profit website introducing the teachings of The Urantia Book to a wider audience, sponsored by Lyn and Norman Lear. Other notable clients include Mrs. Robert F. Kennedy, the Estate of Marilyn Monroe, and Sally Quinn and Ben Bradlee (four family history projects), along with research projects for The Getty, the City of Los Angeles, and The Autry Museum of the American West.

Sioux is the author of Dr. Sadler and The Urantia Book: The Historic Origins of a Spiritual Revelation in the 20th Century. The book compares the work’s “origin story” — Dr. William S. Sadler’s claim that a group of non-human intelligences communicated through a sleeping man in Chicago from 1911 to 1923 — with the scholarly record of the facts and circumstances surrounding its publication.

Eighteen months of immersion in UFO/UAP research has led Sioux to rethink that biography. She now reads Sadler as an “experiencer” who had contact with non-human beings and observed UAPs for decades during his lifetime. Her forthcoming book, EPOCHAL: The Sadlers, Non-Human Intelligence and The Urantia Book, will be available in the summer of 2026.

Justin Sui, Ph.D.

Justin Sui is an M.D./Ph.D. student who recently completed his Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Pathology. With a life-long passion for answering scientific questions in biology, he has worked with numerous model systems ranging from the fruit fly to mice. Supporting and supported by colleagues in The Visible College, Justin aims to use his medical and scientific training to help bridge the gap between the esoteric and traditional academia, and to contribute to educational efforts more broadly.

Craig Whitton, M.Sc.

Director of Student Affairs; Founder, Authentik Consulting & Training

Craig Whitton is a leadership consultant and higher education administrator focused on disruption, crisis response, behaviour management, and institutional resilience. He is the founder of Authentik Consulting & Training, where he supports leaders navigating complex social, technological, and organizational change.

Craig’s work spans emergency management, student conduct, restorative justice, behavioural risk management, and public-sector leadership. He holds a BA (Honours) in Political Science from the University of Guelph and an MSc in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management from the University of Leicester. He is an award-winning speaker with multiple “Best Of” presentation awards, as well as recognition from professional associations including the RLPA’s Josie Lamothe Memorial Award for contributions to Housing and Residence Life and NWACUHO’s David B. Stephen Award for Distinguished Service.

His current work explores the leadership and societal implications of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena and other major disruptors, with a focus on transparency, public trust, and helping institutions transform disruption into meaningful change.

Alexander Wendt, Ph.D.

Mershon Professor of International Security and Professor of Political Science, Ohio State

Avi Loeb, Ph.D.

Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science, Harvard University

Beatriz Villarroel, Ph.D.

Astronomy Researcher at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics

Christopher "Kit" Green, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor in Forensic Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University Medical School and Detroit Medical Center
Former Senior Division Analyst for Neurosciences, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Diana Walsh Pasulka, Ph.D.

Professor of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina, Wilmington

Garry P. Nolan, Ph.D.

Executive Director of the Board, Sol Foundation
Professor in the Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine

Harold "Hal" Puthoff, Ph.D.

Founder and president, EarthTech International and the Institute for Advanced Studies at Austin
Former research scientist and consultant at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and the National Security Agency (NSA)

Iya Whiteley, Ph.D.

Space Psychologist and Director of the Centre for Space Medicine, Department of Space and Climate Physics, University College London (UCL)

J. Allen Hynek, Ph.D.

Astronomer, Scientific Advisor to the US Air Force - Project Sign, Project Grudge, and Project Blue Book

Jacques Vallee, Ph.D.

Computer scientist, venture capitalist, author, ufologist, and astronomer

James E. McDonald, Ph.D.

Physicist, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences

Jeffrey Kripal, Ph.D.

J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought, Rice University

Kevin Knuth, Ph.D.

Professor of Physics, University at Albany

Michio Kaku, Ph.D.

Theoretical Physicist

Stephen Finley, Ph.D.

Chair of African and African American Studies, Louisiana State University

Timothy Gallaudet, Ph.D.

Former Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy
Former Administrator, National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)