Fireside Devotionals
Throughout the Worlds Without Number: God’s Infinite Creation exhibit, scientists and educators provided monthly firesides at the Washington DC Temple Visitors’ Center. Subjects include the themes of Discovery, Filters and Perspective. Both scientific and religious aspects were addressed. Presentations included insights into the James Webb Space Telescope images, exoplanets and what’s on the horizon in space telescope technology, capped by personal speaker testimony on faith and belief in a loving Creator and the purpose of a beautiful and eternal universe.
Each of the devotional recordings can be found below. (For a YouTube playlist containing each of the devotional recordings, please select here.)
Dr. Mario Perez
For the past 15 years, Dr. Perez has been the Chief Technologist for the Astrophysics Division at NASA’s Headquarters in Washington, D.C. There, his work has helped identify hundreds of potential planets through the NASA Kepler program and has helped develop key technology for NASA flight missions. His journey was fueled by a passion for the cosmos that stretches back to his time as a resident astronomer at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and an observer at the European Southern Observatory. He spent 7 years at Los Alamos National Laboratory focusing on space, astrophysics, and technology.
Dr. Perez reached for the stars in his academic career, earning a BS and MS in electrical engineering, a Ph.D. in physics and astronomy from BYU, and an MBA from the University of New Mexico. This multifaceted knowledge allowed him to pursue his love of studying space.
Dr. Joyce Winterton
Dr. Joyce Winterton serves in Senior Management at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. She leads education opportunities for students and educators based on the WFF Suborbital and Special Orbital missions and launches. Dr. Winterton previously served as Associate Administrator for Education at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In her career she taught at the high school and college level, including as a professor at Brigham Young University, and developed education programs in the private and public sectors. She earned her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Utah State University in Education, and a Ph.D. from Colorado State University in Education Leadership and Career Guidance.
Dr. Denise Stephens
Dr. Stephens received her bachelors degree from Brigham Young University and her masters and PhD from New Mexico State University. She then went to work at the Space Telescope Science Institute and Johns Hopkins University before coming to BYU. She specializes in the study of brown dwarf atmospheres.
Dr. Jason Steffen
Dr. Steffen received his bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from Weber State University, and his Masters and PhD in physics from the University of Washington in Seattle. He worked at the Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics and Northwestern University before joining the faculty at UNLV in Las Vegas. He studies the properties of exoplanets, the planets and planetary systems that orbit distant stars.
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