Chase is the founder and CEO of Million Concepts. He founded Million Concepts in 2011, partly because he had become convinced that some methodological innovations could only originate outside of large academic and government organizations, and partly because his entrepreneurial mindset made it inevitable. Though he has a broad range of research interests, he is best-known as an expert in large-scale remote sensing data processing, particularly image data. He worked on the calibration pipeline for the Mars Exploration Rover's Pancam at Cornell, and subsequently worked at Caltech as the lead programmer for the ground calibration systems of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). These engineering environments were fascinating crucibles of complex, sprawling code, tight deadlines, and difficult imaging problems. He has since designed many technically surprising artifacts, most notably gPhoton, the world's first real-time analysis frontend for a > 100 TB archive of astronomical events.
Chase is passionate about correctness in data analysis and scientific methodology, but also relentlessly practical and solution-oriented. He is a founding member of the OpenPlanetary Foundation, and known as an advocate for open source software, open data, and high-quality research software / data archiving. He is also a sculptor, musician, and close-up magician. He has a rare form of near-total colorblindness that gives him perspectives on visual data and interfaces that those cursed with color perception cannot imagine -- and which also makes him exceptionally good at edge detection.
email: chase@millionconcepts.com
Dr. Michael St. Clair is the Chief Technology Officer of Million Concepts. His undergraduate degrees are in theater and mathematics from The Case Western Reserve University; his Ph.D. is from Stanford in Theater and Performance Studies, with a dissertation on the ontology of bodies and interfaces in play and games. While superficially divorced from work in scientific research and software tool development, this background often leads him to fresh insights into user interaction and design, effective documentation of procedures and rulesets, and solving problems under constraints. His extensive humanities scholarship also signals his skill for researching complex topics, synthesizing large amounts of information, and effectively communicating the results. He is an accomplished playwright, musician, and kinetic sculptor. His most prominent works include works of body-based experimental meta-theater, a concept album on the topic of psychosurgery and life of Antonio Egas Moniz, hundreds of hours of live experimental music performance both solo and with groups including Nagoya Math Journal, and interactive / collaborative sound sculptures including PlaySoundGround, Dances of the Sacred and Profane, and Bone Worrier. He taught sound design and game design for several years at Stanford’s d.school, and design and media studies at UC Berkeley. He likes cats very much and co-created the analog augmented reality game “Cat / Strange Cat.”
email: mstclair@millionconcepts.com
Sierra Brown is a Staff Scientist and Research Software Engineer at Million Concepts, LLC. She holds a B.S. (2016) in Geophysics and Geochemistry from Fredonia State University, and M.S. (2018) and Ph.D. (2022) degrees in Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences from Brown University. Her graduate work focused on remote sensing and geochemical modelling of the Martian surface. She has since performed scientific and technical work for multiple NASA missions, including Curiosity, Perseverance and VIPER. She is the lead developer of the Planetary Data Reader--a tool to read any NASA data with one command--and is a major contributor to multiple other best-in-class planetary science software libraries. She is an enrolled member of the Shinnecock Nation, and draws on the practice of "Two-Eyed Seeing" to provide unique insights that integrate indigenous and western approaches to knowledge. Since leaving Brown, she has integrated her Native heritage more fully into her work, and currently serves as the PI of a NASA Transform to Open Science Training grant entitled "Knowing the Sky: Building Open Science Skills through Native Knowledge Practices". She recently received the NASA Space Tech Catalyst Prize for supporting underrepresented groups in space technology development, and plans to direct her future work towards building software that can directly support the environmental justice efforts of indigenous tribes.
email: sierra@millionconcepts.com
Sabrina is a data analyst at Million Concepts. She has a bachelor’s degree in geology with a geophysics concentration from Michigan State University and a master’s in geology from Western Washington University. She was first introduced to the many ways scientists use software in research while working as an undergraduate research assistant in a hydrogeology lab. Her graduate research focused on using visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy to study the weathering of terrestrial rocks as analogs for rocks on the surface of Mars. Her other interests include sewing, especially costuming; hiking; and camping.
email: scurtis@millionconcepts.com
Bekah is a staff scientist and software engineer at Million Concepts. She has a bachelor’s degree in geoscience from Wellesley College and a master’s in Earth and Environmental Science from Tulane University. She has used a wide variety of remote sensing datasets to map and interpret planetary features, from lunar impact basins to the surface of Venus. At Million Concepts, she is also applying these skills to deeper parts of the sky.She likes to read travel narratives, learn about small-scale farming, and look at rocks on the side of the road.
email: ralbach@millionconcepts.com