Russell Orr grew up with his sister in Charlotte, North Carolina where he studied at Central Piedmont Community College and later attained a bachelor's degree in Earth Science at University of North Carolina-Charlotte. After graduation, he moved to Dyer County in Tennessee, a place he visited frequently as a child and where his parents and grandparents grew up. Russell began volunteering at the Discovery Park of America in 2013; he was eventually hired in 2014 and currently works in the Education Department where he enjoys his job very much. In point of fact, he knew he wanted a career as a science demonstrator before he left the third grade. Years ago, on an elementary school field trip, while he was sitting at a science lesson with his schoolmates, he watched the man lecturing his class put a candle under a helium and then a hydrogen balloon--an act which prompted Russell to yell a warning that the hydrogen was more dangerous just before the balloon ignited. He loved the science demonstration so much that he realized, on that day, that he wished that were his job. Today, when visitors come to Discovery Park, Russell speaks at science demonstrations, instructs classes, and teaches families and children at every opportunity.