Staff

Noel Gunther, executive director of Reading Rockets, has overseen the project since its inception. Gunther has broad experience in radio, television, print, and the Internet. He has co-written and co-produced award-winning documentaries for NPR and Public Radio International, including: Good Morning Vietnam with Adrian Cronauer (Gold Award, Best Culture/Arts Program, International Radio Festival of New York; Ohio State Award); American Voices: Norman Corwin with Charles Kuralt (Grand Award, Best Documentary Program, International Radio Festival of New York); Gray Matters: Depression with Mike Wallace (Gold Award, International Radio Festival of New York); and Drugs, Alcohol and the Brain (Gold Cindy Award, best documentary; Grand Award, Best Informational Program, International Radio Festival of New York).

For television, Gunther's work includes the PBS documentary A Tale of Two Schools, narrated by Morgan Freeman, and the five-part public TV series Exploring Your Brain. For the Internet, Gunther created and developed the LD OnLine web site, which since 1996 has been the leading web site in the field of learning disabilities. LD OnLine won a Clarion Award in 1998 as the best nonprofit web site in the country. Gunther is co-author of Beyond Boardwalk and Park Place (Bantam Books), which was named by the New York Public Library as one of the best young adult books of the year. He has also written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Village Voice, Washingtonian, American Journalism Review, and many other publications. He is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School.

Dale S. Brown is LD OnLine's Senior Manager. She came to the position as a well-known author in the field of disability, having written five published books, including Steps to Independence for People with Learning Disabilities. She coauthored Job Hunting Tips for the So-Called Handicapped or People who Have Disabilities with Richard Nelson Bolles, author of What Color is Your Parachute? She has written numerous articles, many of which are on LD OnLine.

Dale worked as a civil servant for Department of Labor on disability policy matters, such as transition from school to work for youth with disabilities, technology, and employment. She was the project director for Job Accommodation Network, the nation's premier technical assistance program on job accommodation. She played a key role in a successful national effort to make Job Corps more accessible to students with disabilities. She has received many national awards for her results. For example, the U.S. Jaycees selected her as one of Ten Outstanding Young Americans Award for her work developing and implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Christian Lindstrom is a producer for WETA Learning Media where her work includes developing television programs, Web sites, and print materials about reading, learning disabilities, mental health, and brain science. Her work on A Tale of Two Schools included directing, writing, and offline editing. She is currently producing additional episodes of the Launching Young Readers series.

Previously, Lindstrom worked as coordinating producer for Exploring Your Brain with Garrick Utley: The Brain-Body Connection, winner of the Gold International CINDY Award; and for Exploring Your Brain: Stress, Trauma, and the Brain, winner of a Time Inc. International Health and Medical Film Festival Award, a Silver CINDY Award, and the James and Sarah Brady Award for Public Service from the Brain Injury Association; and as associate producer for the three-part series Exploring Your Brain with Garrick Utley, winner of the 1998 National Alliance for the Mentally Ill's Outstanding Broadcast Media Award for Science.

Previously, she served as production coordinator for the television program Look What You've Done! with Dr. Robert Brooks, about learning disabilities and self-esteem, and for When the Chips Are Down… with Richard Lavoie, about learning disabilities and discipline. Lindstrom also played a significant role in developing LD OnLine, WETA's award-winning learning disabilities Web site.

Alan Lundy-Ponce is director of WETA Learning Media's websites: AdLit.org, Reading Rockets, Colorín Colorado, LD OnLine, and LearningStore. He has 14 years of software development and project management experience in the technology field, including work for IBM, several Silicon Valley Internet startups, and in Ethiopia and Haiti. He has degrees in economics and computer science from Reed College and the University of Washington.

Joanne Meier, Ph.D. provides research guidance for Reading Rockets. Dr. Meier has more than 15 years of experience in the field of early childhood education. Dr. Meier served on the faculty at the University of Virginia for six years where she trained reading specialists and future classroom teachers. In addition to her teaching, Dr. Meier co-authored three Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) instruments, used today by over 14,000 PreK-grade 3 teachers in Virginia. Dr. Meier has conducted research and published in several professional journals. Her research has been published in journals as diverse as Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, Reading Writing Quarterly, Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, and Teaching and Change. Dr. Meier is a co-author of the Phonics Friends series, published by Child's World. Before pursuing her Ph.D., she taught elementary school in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Maria Salvadore is Reading Rockets' consultant for children's literature and literacy. She is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland, reviewer for School Library Journal and Capitol Choices, and former member of the American Library Association's Notable Children's Book Committee. She was previously coordinator of children's services for the District of Columbia Public Library system and Cambridge (MA) Public Library. She currently works with PBS's Ready to Learn project, the Kennedy Center's education department, Reading Is Fundamental, and the Catholic Charities Parenting Program.

Maria has chaired or served on various book award committees including the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award, the Boston Globe/Horn Book Awards, Golden Kite and the Caldecott Committee. She is the co-author with Susan Hepler of Books Kids Will Talk About.