
Sonia Shechet Epstein works at the intersection of science and visual culture. She is Curator of Science and Technology and Executive Editor, Sloan Science & Film at Museum of the Moving Image in New York City.
At MoMI, Sonia oversees the Museum’s online publication scienceandfilm.org as well as administration of the annual $20,000 Sloan Student Prizes for screenplay development. She curates the monthly film series “Science on Screen” that pairs screenings of rarely-seen films with conversations between scientists and filmmakers to offer new perspectives on both film and scientific subject matter. She develops and organizes exhibitions, and manages activities related to science and technology at the Museum.
Prior her position at Museum of the Moving Image, Sonia was a Senior Program Associate at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation evaluating proposals for a multi-platform arts program to enhance public understanding of science. Prior to that, she worked for Nobel Laureate neuroscientist Dr. Eric R. Kandel at Columbia University preparing his book The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain from Vienna 1900 to the Present (Random House, 2012), and helping to produce The Brain Series for PBS.
Sonia is a trustee of the On the Water chapter of the Awesome Foundation, and a founding mentor at the New Museum’s organization NEW INC for practitioners working with art, technology, and design. Sonia was selected to be part of Berlinale Talents in 2022, and lectures internationally about the intersection of science and cinema. Sonia graduated with a BA in Psychology and Art History from Middlebury College, and is a Master’s candidate in Interdisciplinary Studies at NYU. She is the recipient of the Dean’s Fellowship for Distinguished Master’s Students.