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 website, which since 1996 has been the leading website in the field of learning disabilities. LD OnLine won a Clarion Award in 1998 as the best nonprofit website 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.

Christian Lindstrom is a producer for WETA Learning Media where her work includes developing television programs, websites, 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 website.

Tina Chovanec, director of Reading Rockets, has more than 20 years of experience in non-profit project management and communications, including work as a writer, editor, information architect, designer, and creative director. She led the 2009 redesign of the Reading Rockets website including expansion of the multimedia library, and has overseen a significant growth in audience through partner outreach activities, syndication, video/podcast sharing services, and strategic use of social media networks. She was previously the director of print and web publications at Oregon State University, where she led the development of award-winning communications for the university as well as OSU's colleges, departments, research centers, and the K-12 outreach program. Ms. Chovanec has an undergraduate degree from Brown University and an MFA in communication design from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has worked as a volunteer tutor in public elementary schools in Virginia and Oregon.

Joanne Meier, Ph.D. provides research guidance for Reading Rockets. Dr. Meier has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of early childhood and reading 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 17,000 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 over 100 books for beginning readers. 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.

Julie M. Wood, Ed.D., a national educational consultant, served as a faculty member and former Director of the Jeanne Chall Reading Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Recently she directed a comprehensive school reform effort for young children, called "Three to Third," at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, in partnership with the Mayor's Office and Boston Public Schools.

Dr. Wood's writing has been featured in Instructor Magazine, Scholastic Administrator, Harvard Education Publishing Group, Teacher Radio (on Scholastic.com), and the journal, Language Arts. Her book entitled "Literacy Online," (Heinemann) expands upon these themes. She has spoken at events, such as a forum on No Child Left Behind legislation at the Harvard University Law School, as well as national and international conferences.

Dr. Wood began her career as a public school teacher and reading specialist. She has also served as a university lecturer, an editor/developer in educational publishing, and a consultant on media-based products for teachers and students. Dr. Wood's clients include Apple Computer, Disney Interactive, Nickelodeon, Heinemann Publishers, Click Media, Houghton Mifflin, The Ready To Learn Partnership, and PBS Interactive where she serves as the Senior Literacy Advisor for new projects.