Matthew Worwood is an education consultant and full-time faculty member at the University of Connecticut’s Digital Media and Design Department. He is also the director of Digital Media CT, a consortium of Connecticut-based higher education institutions working in collaboration to promote digital media careers in Connecticut. His research interests focus on Teacher Creativity, Co-Creativity with Generative AI, and Design Thinking. 

Matthew has produced a collection of low-budget documentary films exploring education issues. He also writes about various education and creativity topics and shares his ideas for teacher creativity and how it supports long-term professional growth on his website, WorwoodClassroom.com. Matthew’s current projects include TeacherRoundtables.com, the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, and research on a new proposed model for creativity called the CAUSE model. Matthew also continues to work with local school districts on his framework for teacher creativity, which utilizes different aspects of design thinking, creativity theory, and research into teacher transformation. 

Dr. Cyndi Burnett is the Director of Possibilities at Creativity and Education. She is a creativity in education scholar, educator, and practitioner whose work focuses on empowering educators to infuse creative thinking into the classroom. She spent 20 years as an academic teaching deliberate creative thinking and creativity problem-solving in the Department of Creativity and Change Leadership at SUNY Buffalo State University. She ran a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Igniting Your Everyday Creativity with over 70K participants worldwide.  She is the recipient of the President’s Medal for Excellence in Teaching by SUNY Buffalo State University, was Buffalo Business First, Woman of Influence for her work in creativity, and was featured in the NY Times article titled “Creativity Becomes an Academic Discipline.” 

Dr. Burnett co-hosts the Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast, where she interviews leading researchers, practitioners, and educators on creative thinking in education. She is the co-author of the books Weaving Creativity into Every Strand of Your Curriculum, 20 Lessons for Weaving Creativity into Your Curriculum,  My Sandwich is a Spaceship: Creative Thinking for Parents and Young Children and Infusing Creative Thinking into Higher Education.

Sam Atkinson is a UK-based freelance podcast editor with a deep passion for working in the audio space. Since September 2023, he has been dedicated to refining the audio and video content of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, bringing clarity and quality to each episode. What began as a hobby has evolved into a fulfilling career, enabling Sam to merge his technical skills with his love for creativity in education.

He holds a first-class honours degree in Television and Radio Production from the University of Salford, where he gained foundational skills and knowledge. His experience is enriched by work placements within prestigious organizations such as BBC Radio and ITV’s sound department, which provided him with hands-on expertise in high-level audio production.

Jimmy Wilson is a doctoral student in Educational Psychology at UConn’s Renzulli Center for Creativity, Talent Development, and Gifted Education, where he explores intersections of creativity, equity, and neurodiversity. With a decade of experience teaching creative writing, English, and ESL in rural and Title 1 schools in Texas, Jimmy is passionate about fostering inclusive, creative spaces in education. He earned his M.Ed. from Southern Methodist University, where his commitment to reaching underserved students deepened. Standing at 6’8”, he’s hard to miss and always open to a conversation, whether it’s about his research or his lovable dog, Luke, who is a frequent companion in his academic journey. Jimmy plans to use his time with the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast to deepen his knowledge of creativity and educational equity, while also sharing his insights and reflections on the podcast’s Emerging Scholar in Residence page to engage with educators and researchers in driving innovation in teaching and learning.