2025 GNSI Juried Members' Exhibit

Director of the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History

Dr. Janine N. Caira is a parasitologist who received her M. Sc. from the University of British Columbia in 1981 and her Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1985. She joined the University of Connecticut in 1985 and is currently a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut and Director of the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History. Dr. Caira is a parasitologist whose research focuses on the taxonomy, systematics and phylogenetic relationships of tapeworms and their elasmobranch (shark and stingray) hosts using both morphological and molecular approaches. Her work is global in scale having involved fieldwork in over 30 countries. That work has led to the discovery of more than 200 new species and 30 new genera, the reconfiguration of tapeworm ordinal-level relationships, and perhaps most surprisingly, little evidence of cospeciation between tapeworms and their elasmobranch hosts despite exhibiting extremely high levels of host specificity. 

 Jay Block is an Associate Director of Collections and Exhibitions at Bridgewater State University where he has spent over ten years implementing a progressive arts program centered on the areas of diversity, collection development, exhibitions, conservation, and research. He has collaborated with community leaders in the development of a recognized Arts District and sought university and community partners in the development of grant funding sources.

Jay mentors individual students in curatorial studies, business practices within the arts, exhibition design, and collection management practices. He has also developed and implemented strategic goals, policies, and objectives related to collection and exhibition management that adhere to the highest museum standards and best practices. Jay has worked as an Operations Manager and Collections Manager at the Whitney Museum. He has also been a Collections Manager and Exhibitions Designer at the Neuberger Museum, as well as managed various Private Collections in New York City. Most recently, Jay has been part of the Steering Committee for the Town Hall Art Center to restore the historical Town House Building, which served as the first Town Hall of Bridgewater, MA. He is helping develop a master plan that would provide the community with a full range of community-based arts programming.

Sharl Heller is the co-founder and president of the Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance, Inc. (SEMPBA), an all-volunteer organization committed to preserving the unique habitats within the globally rare Massachusetts Coastal Pine Barrens Ecoregion. SEMPBA operates a climate and nature center at the picturesque Center Hill Preserve on Cape Cod Bay in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Under Sharl’s leadership, SEMPBA has been at the forefront of conservation efforts, including organizing impactful community events like "The Horseshoe Crab: Against All Odds" art exhibition at the Plymouth Center for the Arts, where over 60 artists contributed to raising awareness about wildlife conservation.