Robert L. Russell, Ph.D.
Principal, Informal Learning Solutions

Bob Russell has over twenty-five years of rich and varied experience in formal and informal education, including cross-cultural, educational, and evaluation research, university teaching, non-profit management, and as consultant to a wide range of organizations on informal learning projects. Russell is well-known for his leadership in designing innovative projects that expand informal learning experiences.

As Science & Health Program Director at Self-Reliance Foundation/Acceso Hispano, he has developed and currently directs Celebra la Ciencia, a national media and community outreach initiative targeting Latino families and ConCiencia, a weekly science and health news service reaching Spanish-language media nationwide. 

In past years, he's worked with a variety of organizations on the design and funding of informal learning projects, such as the Congo Rainforest exhibition at the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Kids Science Challenge radio series and science competition, and travelling space science exhibitions for the Space Science Institute. His clients have included science and children’s museums, zoos, scientific societies, federal agencies, media organizations, and community/youth organizations.

To strengthen the field of informal science learning, Russell has designed projects that support the development of professional learning communities and that provide professional development for informal learning designers and educators. He has organized a national conference, Expanding Informal Science Learning for Latinos; co-founded (with Dr. Mac West) the Informal Learning Review, a widely respected bi-monthly newsletter; and leads professional development seminars across the country in project planning, grant development, and educational program design. In addition to authoring numerous articles for the Informal Learning Review, Russell has published articles in The Big Frame (giant screen films) and Hand-to-Hand (children’s museums). 

Bob Russell is an experienced researcher and program evaluator. He was involved in the design and implementation of national impact evaluations of the federally-funded American Indian and Bilingual Education Programs. He has published research focusing on early adolescent friendships, cognitive development, learning problems, and cross-cultural comparisons of intellectual development. In science museums, Russell has conducted front-end and formative evaluation for numerous informal education projects at SciTech Interactive Center, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Zoo Atlanta, the National Aviation Hall of Fame, the Michigan Supreme Courts Learning Center, the National Council of La Raza, and a number of IMAX film and radio projects.

Dr. Russell received a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Cornell University and has published research in peer-reviewed publications on friendship networks among adolescents, the development of mathematical thinking, learning problems in mathematics, cross-cultural comparisons of the development of mathematical thinking, and drug abuse among ethnic minorities.