About Us

Matthew Kohut, Editor

Matthew Kohut has over 15 years of experience writing about scientific, technical and quantitative information in a public policy context for both general and expert audiences.

Prior to January 2006, he was Director of Research and Publications for the Council for Excellence in Government. He served as rapporteur for several Council reports, including We the People: Homeland Security from the Citizens' Perspective and The Shape of Our Representative Democracy, and conducted original research for the Environmental Protection Agency on the role of collaboration in regulation. He also wrote speeches, op-ed articles, business development and marketing materials for the Council's CEO and other senior executives.

Matt holds a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a B.A. from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University.

In addition to his career as a writer and analyst, he worked from 1995-2002 as a professional bassist, touring the United States and Europe with numerous pop music acts.

Haley Stephenson, Writer

Haley Stephenson serves as the staff writer for ASK the Academy. She also writes case studies and white papers, and is a contributing editor to ASK Magazine.

Before joining the team in June 2009, Haley earned a Masters in Science Writing from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Her graduate work focused on the fields of biological and computational vision. During this time she also interned for ScienceNOW, the online daily news source for Science Magazine, where she wrote about dinosaurs, bubble gum and cognition, erasing memories in mice, global warming, and butterfly larvae. She received a B.A. in Neuroscience from Wellesley College in 2007, where she was also a four-year varsity soccer player.

After college Haley worked as a clinical research coordinator for intensive care studies at the University of California San Francisco—Fresno medical residency program and as a lab assistant in a fish neuroendocrinology lab at California State University Fresno. Her mission in life is to stay curious.

Erin L. Bonilla, Webmaster & Graphic Designer

Erin Bonilla serves as the webmaster and lead graphic designer for appel.nasa.gov. In this capacity, Erin maintains and posts new content as well as creates and manages art assets used throughout the APPEL website. She also provides graphics support and online delivery of ASK the Academy and ASK Magazine.

Erin studied Graphic Design at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, VA and worked as manager of daily operations for a small screen printing and embroidery business. After college, Erin progressed quickly into management roles and eventually became the creative director at a fashion advertising agency in Bethesda, Maryland.

Outside of NASA, Erin is also very involved in community service, volunteerism, and educational outreach. She loves music, space, dancing, and is a licensed skydiver. Her goal is to, one day, skydive from the edge space.