Kristin Laughtin is the Collection Development Assistant at the UC Irvine Libraries and a graduate student in San Jose State's School of Library and Information Science. Growing up in northern California, she always thought she'd make her career in the sciences. Life took her another direction, and she now holds a bachelor's degree in linguistics and religious studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. A life-long and avid reader of science fiction and fantasy, she is interested in the expression of the fantastic or improbable in fiction and one day hopes to join the ranks of published writers in the genre.

Kristin Laughtin is moderating the Science Fiction and Fantasy: Different Worlds, Different Lives panel during Session 3.