Short Bio
An award-winning author, storyteller, educator and environmental advocate, Jennifer Morgan gives programs for adults and children centered on her Universe Story Trilogy. Her books are used in classrooms around the world, particularly in Montessori schools as part of the Cosmic Education Curriculum for the elementary level, and have received numerous awards and endorsements from renowned scientists, educators and thinkers. Select "endorsements" from the menu to read endorsements for each book. Select "programs" for more information about programs she can offer for your school or organization.
Long Bio
Jennifer Morgan is an award-winning author, educator, lecturer, master storyteller and retreat leader inspired by the work of Maria Montessori,Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme, Mary Evelyn Tucker, John Grimm, Ilya Prigogine, and others. Her programs cover the Epic of Evolution Story, the emerging role of the human, and the necessity of reinventing the human and human institutions inside of the flow of cosmic evolution in order to address the pressing issues of today. Ms. Morgan’s books and programs are scientifically based and nourished by the wisdom traditions. Her books – Born With a Bang (Winner of Learning Magazine’s Teachers Choice Award), From Lava to Life, and Mammals Who Morph – are used in classrooms around the world and have been endorsed by Jane Goodall, Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme, Nobel Laureate Leon Lederman, astronaut Edgar Mitchell, Neil de Grasse Tyson (Director, Rose Center, AMNH), and numerous others. For over ten years Ms. Morgan has been giving programs throughout the US and other countries for students of all ages from elementary to college age; professional development for teachers; and leading retreats. Before that, she was director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey and served on the national Organic Trade Association board. Ms. Morgan has a B.A. in Theology, University of San Francisco, and an M.B.A., Rutgers University. For more information about books and programs go www.universestories.com. You may email Ms. Morgan at jmuniverse@gmail.com.
Jennifer's work flows out of her love of the natural world and cosmology. As former director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey, she started local and national programs for farmers and consumers. In 1997, she took the Earth Literacy program in cosmology and evolution at Genesis Farm, Blairstown, NJ. It so inspired her that she went on to take classes in cosmology and evolution at Princeton University. In sharing what she learned with her six year old son, she discovered that children are intensely interested in the story of the universe. He wanted to know more and more, even the texture of the edge of the Universe. Jennifer consulted with numerous physicists, biologists and anthropologists regarding science concepts and, over time, bedtime conversations with her son turned into books. "Science is handing us an origin story," she says, "and we've only barely begun to understand its mythic dimensions." She believes that cosmology stories profoundly shape our relationships, work, play, culture, and institutions.
Jennifer has presented at:
Drumalis Retreat Center, Larne, Northern Ireland
SF Public Montessori School, San Francisco, CA
Littleton Lyceum, Littleton, MA
Gaia Center, Ontario, Canada
Fraser-Woods School, Newtown, CT
Chewonki Foundation, Wiscasset, ME
Cambridge Meeting, Cambridge, MA
Community of the Holy Spirit, Brewster, NY
World Science Festival, New York, NY
Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, Princeton, NJ
Princeton Center for Teacher Education, Princeton, NJ
Homestead School, Glen Spey, NY
Metropolitan Montessori, New York, NY
New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ
Lore Elementary School, Ewing, NJ
Sayreville Public Library, Sayreville, NJ
Maryknoll Sisters, Ossining, NY
Centenary College, Hackettstown, NJ
Cecilian Center for Spirituality, Mt. Airy, PA
St. Peters, Jersey City, NJ
American Montessori Society, National Conv., NY, NY
Association of NJ Environmental Educators
Barnes and Noble, Princeton
Institute on Religion in an Age of Science, Star Island, NH
NJ Science Teachers Convention
Mission Montessori Academy, Scottsdale, AZ
Villa Montessori, Phoenix, AZ
Khalsa Montessori, Phoenix, AZ
Desert Garden Montessori, Phoenix, AZ
Ateneo de Manila University, Manila, Philippines
NJ Montessori Administration Corp.
Chewonki Foundation, Wiscasset, ME
Foulkways, Gwynedd, PA
University of Maine, Orono, ME
Chestnut Tree Books, Princeton, NJ
Chestnut Hill College
NJ Assoc. of School Librarians
Liberty Science Center, Liberty State Park, Jersey City, NJ
Black River Middle School, Chester, NJ
Liberty Science Center, Liberty State Park, Jersey City, NJ
Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Lake Placid, NY
Sunnybrae School, Yardville, NJ
Lay Spirits, Church of St. Francis Xavier, New York, NY
NJ Science Teachers Convention, New Brunswick, NJ
Stuart Country Day School, Princeton, NJ
Isles, Trenton, NJ
Middlesex Public Library
Princeton Public Library, Princeton, NJ
Princeton Packet Kids to Work, Princeton, NJ
Summit Middle School, Summit, NJ
National Science Teachers Convention, Philadelphia, PA
Princeton Center for Yoga and Health, Princeton, NJ
EarthSpirit Rising, Louisville, KY
Cotsen Library, Princeton University
Green Mountain Monastery, Greensboro, VT
Raritan Valley Planetarium, Branchburg, NJ
Villa Victoria Academy, Trenton, NJ
Princeton Friends School, Princeton, NJ
Barnes & Noble, Princeton, NJ
Dana Lynn Andersen
Dana Lynn Andersen, M.A., of Santa Rosa, California, is a multi-media artist, playright and teacher with degrees in philosophy and consciousness studies. Her paintings, often very large in size, explore the swirling forces of energy that underlie matter and seek to reveal life's numinous mystery. She believes that as our "depth perception" expands -- billions of galaxies discovered in our lifetime! -- it is also essential to expand perception inwardly to the vastness within. She is founder of Awakening Arts, a network of artists who "affirm the noble purpose of art as a vehicle for uplifting the human spirit." Dana provides programs and hands-on projects that have students creating like the Universe. Originals, fine art prints and posters are available from www.awakeningarts.com