Dan Ruby (Oregon)

Finding a way between disciplines

Raised in the Great Basin, Dan Ruby grew into Reno’s independent music community while pursuing an education in art and teaching. He studied digital media and communication at the University of Nevada, Reno, and later earned a master’s degree in secondary education. Creative practice and education became enduring parts of his work.

He performed and recorded with Crushstory and the Wax Models. Writing songs, making records and working with other artists developed alongside his career at Fleischmann Planetarium and Science Center.

The Reno years

Over more than 12 years at Fleischmann, Ruby taught Earth and space science, worked with teachers and students, and eventually became the planetarium’s director. The work gave him ways to connect university research with everyday curiosity: an astronomy program, a school visit, or a student’s first encounter with an engineering problem.

That curiosity also took him into the field. Through NASA’s Spaceward Bound and the Earth-Mars Cave Detection Project, he worked on cave research and cartography in the Mojave and Atacama deserts. On a separate biological expedition to Rapa Nui, he helped with cave-biodiversity sampling and photography. His astronomy work also included collaborative observations with RECON. He also participated in SOFIA airborne astronomy and helped bring the NASA Rover Challenge to high-school students at the Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology.

His environmental work also developed during the Reno years. In 2009, Ruby participated in the University’s Campus Life sustainability working group and helped communicate the educational purpose of Fleischmann’s new solar and wind-energy installation.

Music, art and a shared community

In Reno, Ruby’s music, visual art and science education developed through an overlapping community of artists, educators and local institutions. Alongside performing and recording, he was a co-owner of Squid vs. Whale: a Record Company and contributed recordings and album-cover art to Nevada Museum of Art’s Wrong Side of Reno exhibition. His community work included recurring bicycle-maintenance education through Reno Bike Project’s “Dan’s Night,” documented in local reporting in 2010 and again in 2016. He also wrote about winter bicycle commuting and taught winter-riding workshops. His collaborations also included Holland Project.

Some projects brought those interests together directly. For Holland Project’s Forage program, Ruby directed an original live score for silent science-fiction films, performed by more than 15 musicians. The planetarium provided another setting for creative collaboration. Ruby was listed as its contact for the 2006 Reno Interdisciplinary Festival of New Media, whose program included experimental video and animation designed for 360-degree dome projection. He later explored experimental dome video with Sierra Nevada College’s graduate arts students, extending his creative work into the planetarium setting.

His 2018 album 33–45, credited to Dan Ruby and Friends, brought this collaborative practice into a single work. Original songs, visual art and conceptual packaging drew on the Voyager Golden Record and Pioneer spacecraft plaques. Through interwoven personal histories and cultural references, the album explores identity as a composite of the selves we inhabit over time and the ways others see us.

Making a home in Oregon

Ruby moved with his family to Ashland in 2018 to lead Scienceworks Museum. The setting changed, but the work still centered on learning through experience and connecting people with ideas. During his tenure, ScienceWorks developed an interactive exhibit marking Apollo’s 50th anniversary, combining a historic NASA mission-control console with hands-on simulations.

After the Almeda Fire in 2020, his work increasingly focused on recovery and the conditions that help communities thrive. He worked with Firebrand Resiliency Collective, developed partnerships at Rogue Community Health, and later led the Rogue Community College Foundation. Subsequent work with the Geos Institute involved climate-resilience work.

Housing became part of this broader picture. Ruby helped establish Sunstone Housing Collaborative through work connecting school enrollment, housing and the ability of families and workers to remain in Ashland. The relationship between education, health and a stable place to live has continued to shape his community work.

On October 1, 2026, Ruby became executive director of Southern Oregon Climate Action Now (SOCAN), bringing together his experience in science education, nonprofit leadership and community resilience. His work there continues a career connecting scientific understanding with community engagement.

Public service

Ruby was elected to the Ashland School Board in 2023. In 2024, he ran for Congress in Oregon’s 2nd District. In 2026, he is a candidate for one of four at-large seats on the Ashland City Council in the November 3 general election.

Election records: Ballotpedia — Oregon officeholder and election history; Ballotpedia — 2026 Ashland City Council candidate profile.

Education, creative collaboration and community institutions have remained connected throughout these roles, from public science programs in Reno to school-board service in Ashland.