About Us

Gabrielle Lyon

“Why do I work for social justice by addressing the issue of access to science? Because I believe it may be one of the most dynamic vehicles available to us for changing people’s lives. You don’t know what people are going to be—or who they may become. Project Exploration allows me to work to ensure that all kids—particularly those least likely to have successful experiences with science or school—have opportunities to explore their own potential and the world around them.”                                         

As founder and senior explorer of Project Exploration, Gabrielle Lyon champions the belief that science can and should be accessible to everyone, especially to those to whom it traditionally has been closed.

Gabrielle Lyon spent her childhood in New Mexico and attended high school in New Jersey. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in history from the University of Chicago and received her Ph.D. in curriculum studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2010. In 1994, Lyon was selected as a Fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, where she worked as a writer and researcher for the education magazine Teaching Tolerance, a national forum for educators to discuss tolerance, diversity, and justice in and beyond the classroom. In 1996, Lyon returned to Chicago to direct the School Change Institute and serve as the Outreach Coordinator at the Small Schools Workshop at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Lyon's honors include representing the International Association of Educators for World Peace as a delegate to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, addressing the United Nations Subcommittee on Human Rights on "The Prevention of Racism and the Protection of Minorities" in 1995; and being recognized as one of "Tomorrow's Leaders Today" by Public Allies in 1999, one of the Community Renewal Society's "35 Under 35" in 2007, and a recipient of The Chicago Community Trust Fellowship in 2009.

Lyon has participated in seven international expeditions to Africa, China, and South America, and, in 1995, discovered the predatory dinosaur Deltadromeus. She cofounded Project Exploration in 1999 with paleontologist Paul Sereno, serving as Executive Director from 2000-2011, when she transitioned to her role as Senior Explorer. Project Exploration is a nonprofit science education organization that works to ensure communities traditionally overlooked by science—particularly minority youth and girls—have access to personalized experiences with science and scientists.