Leadership
Leadership
Sean Esbjörn-Hargens
Principal Investigator
Sean Esbjörn-Hargens Ph.D. is the Program Director of the online MA/PhD program in Integral Noetic Sciences (INS) at the California Institute for Human Science (CIHS). INS takes an integrative metatheoretical approach to the scientific study of consciousness with a focus on noetic and anomalous experiences. At CIHS Sean also runs the Center for Anomalous and Noetic Studies and the Center for Applied Integrative Metatheory. The INS program is the only accredited program on Earth that offers concentrations in Anomalous Studies, UAP and Consciousness Studies, Psychedelic Studies, and Parapsychology. In 2024 Sean launched the WISER project. Sean has also had his fair share of wild and weird first-person “exo” experiences, which makes this exploration personally salient and meaningful.
Beth Glick
Research Assistant
Beth Glick is a writer, researcher, and PhD student in Integral Noetic Sciences (INS) at the California Institute for Human Science (CIHS). Her work takes a transdisciplinary approach to researching consciousness and extraordinary human experiences, seeking to enrich public dialogue around these phenomena. Prior to her academic return, she spent nearly two decades as co-founder of ChangeCraft, a strategy and organizational design consulting practice that collaborated with organizations to tackle some of the most pernicious global issues of our time.
Integral Noetic Sciences Graduate Students
Anomalous Research Practicum Participants
The Anomalous Research Practicum is offered each year to graduate students in the Integral Noetic Sciences (INS) program to explore the frontiers of anomalous experience and noetic research. The course offers a unique opportunity to contribute directly to WISER, engaging with the project at its current stage of development. Students work hands-on to design, refine, and expand different aspects of the research—whether through survey design, interview protocols, data analysis, literature reviews, or public engagement.
WISER Advisors
Karin Austin
John E. Mack Institute
abductee & experiencer perspectives
Linda Backman, PhD
Ravenheart Center
expanded self & soul design
Chris Bledsoe
super experiencer
Thomas Brophy, PhD
Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS)
physics & subtle energy
Kelly Chase
creative producer-storyteller
media & experiencer narratives
Suzanne Clores, MFA
The Extraordinary Project Podcast
extraordinary experiences & story telling
Joshua Cutchin, MA
independent scholar
folklore & anomalous experiences
Kimberly Engels, PhD
Molloy University
phenomenology, philosophy, & UAP studies
Diana Espírito Santo, PhD
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
ethnography, spirits, & religious studies
Robert Falconer
independent scholar-practitioner
IFS, possession & porous mind
Stephen Finley, PhD
Louisiana State University
African American studies & esotericism
super experiencer
University of Wales Trinity Saint David
anthropology, ecology, & the paranormal
Leslie Kean
investigative journalist
UAP studies and survival of bodily death
Jeffrey Kripal, PhD
Rice University
religious studies & anomalous experience
Kurt Leland
independent scholar-practitioner
OBEs, subtle bodies, & inner senses
Timothy Lomas, PhD
Harvard University
UAP hypothesis & science of well-being
Kathleen Marden
independent scholar-practitioner
UAPs, NHIs, abductions & psychology
Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD
New Thinking Allowed
parapsychology & NDEs
David Mitchell, PhD
California Institute of Integral Studies
integral & transpersonal psychology
Julia Mossbridge, PhD
Center for the Future Mind, Florida Atlantic University
AI & consciousness/neuroscience
Garry Nolan, PhD
Stanford University
immunology & anomalous cognition
D. E. Osto, PhD
independent scholar-practitioner
paranormal experiences & Buddhist studies
Kara Placek, PhD
University of San Diego
sociology of the paranormal
Thomas Rabeyron, PhD
Université Lumière Lyon
clinical psychology, neuropsychoanalysis, & exceptional experiences
Ed Sarath, PhD
University of Michigan
creativity, integral theory, & consciousness
Gregory Shushan, PhD
independent scholar
NDEs & religious studies
Peter Skafish, PhD
Sol Foundation
ontology, philosophy, & anthropology
Helané Wahbeh, ND, MCR
Institute of Noetic Sciences
mixed methods & noetic experiences
Akila Weerasekera, PhD
Harvard Medical School
neuroscience, neuroimaging, & consciousness
Simon Young, PhD
independent scholar
faerie traditions & folklore
Michael Zimmerman, PhD
University of Colorado
philosophy & environmental studies
Institutional Sponsors
Institutional Partners
