Imants Barušs, PhD is a professor of psychology at King’s University College at Western University where he teaches courses about consciousness, altered states of consciousness, and the psychology of religion and spirituality. He is the author of numerous papers and books including Radical Transformation and Death as An Altered State of Consciousness.

Ricky Derisz is a writer, speaker, and host of the Mind That Ego Podcast. Inspired by his battle with mental illness and subsequent awakening, Ricky’s independent research and practice of self-inquiry synthesizes an expansive network, including depth psychology, spirituality, philosophy, and science, to support a cohesive model of reality that allows for a life-enriching relationship with the cosmos, one of enchantment, mystery, and mysticism.

Sunshine L. Kessler is a digital nomad with an academic background in the study of consciousness. A craft beer enthusiast and international beer judge, Sunshine has somehow managed to visit all 7 continents and over 100 countries on a writer’s salary. She most appreciates visits to remote or challenging places like North Korea, where she was among the first group of foreigners to tour local breweries. An avowed psychonaut, Sunshine started the Lucid Humanity initiative for understanding consciousness and the nature of reality. Ashtanga yoga and meditation practices keep her feet on the ground.

Karalee Kothe has been a student of consciousness since she was a kid. The beauty of nature, the joy of music and dancing, the exploration of knowledge, and the enduring love of her family have been her guiding lights on her path. She obtained a master’s degree from the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University, and she is currently a clinical health psychology PhD student at the University of Colorado, Denver. Her research interests presently include understanding terminal lucidity, the sudden return of energy and clarity before death, and examining the intersection of meaning, spirituality, and health.

Michael A. Krieger, MD majored in physics and psychology at Rutgers College and earned his MD at GWU Medical School. He completed internal medicine internship at the GWU Hospital and psychiatry residency at Boston University Medical Center. He is board certified in Adult, Addictions, and Geriatric Psychiatry. He is a graduate of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. He was staff psychiatrist at the outpatient mental health clinic of the VA Hospital in Bedford, Massachusetts, where he taught medical students, served as medical staff president, and chaired the Ethics Advisory Committee. Now semi-retired, he maintains a solo private practice from his home.

Lisa Miller, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University, Teachers College and is Founder of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, the first Ivy League graduate program in spirituality and psychology. Dr. Miller is a foremost scientist on spirituality across the lifespan, with her work published in top research journals including JAMA-Psychiatry, American Journal of Psychiatry, and the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Her innovative research has focused on quantifiable effects of spirituality in health, resilience and thriving, and an overall sacred and joyful life. Her clinical and consultation work focuses on spiritual awareness and spiritual growth, for individuals, families, groups and organizations, to augment “Awakened Awareness.” She is the NY Times best-selling author of The Spiritual Child, and the author of the recent bestselling book, The Awakened Brain.

Stephan A. Schwartz is a scientist, futurist, and award-winning author of both fiction and nonfiction. He is currently a Distinguished Associated Scholar of the California Institute for Human Science, Distinguished Consulting Faculty Saybrook University, and a BIAL Foundation Fellow. Schwartz is a columnist for the journal Explore, editor of the daily web publication Schwartzreport.net and the weekly Schwartzreport podcast, in all of which he covers trends and research affecting the future. For over 50 years, as an experimentalist, he has been studying the nature of consciousness, particularly nonlocal consciousness at both the individual and social levels. He is one of the small group that created modern remote viewing, including several now standard protocols. In addition to his non-fiction books and novels, he is the author of more than 350 technical reports, papers, academic book chapters, prefaces, and introductions.

David Lorimer is a visionary polymath, poet and spiritual activist who is Global Ambassador and Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network, Editor of Paradigm Explorer and Co-Chair of the Galileo Commission. His most recent books are A Quest for Wisdom and his collection of poems Better Light a Candle. He is also co-editor with Marjorie Woollacott of Spiritual Awakenings and with Ervin Laszlo of The Great Upshift