Outreach

Image: Shrewsbury High School. Image courtesy of Shrewsbury Public Schools.

Shrewsbury High School Astronomy Club

In May of 2018, I joined a group of graduate students from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in meeting with a local high school astronomy club. The UMass students had prepared slides and activities related to exoplanet detection, galaxy morphological classification, and gravitational waves, to give students a look into some of the breadth of fields in astronomy today. I helped to answer student questions about gravitational waves and black holes, due to my expertise in that area. We also fielded student questions regarding the pursuit of astronomy as a career, given each of our unique paths to becoming graduate students.

FEMMES (Females Excelling More in Math, Engineering, and the Sciences) Capstone

FEMMES is an organization at the University of Michigan which aims to inspire young girls to develop an interest in STEM pursuits early in their developmental life. To this end, they set up numerous events which feature engaging, hands-on activities developed and presented by UM students and faculty. One such type of event are the FEMMES Capstones, which feature a day-long series of activities to attend for 4th-6th grade girls. At the FEMMES 2018 Winter Capstone, I helped to run the activity “What’s your address in the Universe?: Get to know your galactic neighbors!”, designed by fellow UM Astronomer Aleksandra Kuznetsova. In particular, I helped to run a demo on teaching participants about gravity and star formation.

Image: Myself and Kuznetsova presenting a demo on gravity and star formation at the FEMMES Winter 2018 Capstone. Image courtesy of fellow graduate student Adi Foord.
Image: The Slauson Science Olympiad team, after winning the Michigan State competition in 2018. Image courtesy of AAPS District News.

Slauson Middle School Science Olympiad

Science Olympiad is a national science competition for elementary through high-school aged students. Each year, teams compete in a wide variety of rigorous, science-based challenges to demonstrate their knowledge and prowess in numerous STEM areas. In the 2017-2018 season, I volunteered as the coach of the Solar System event for Slauson Middle School’s Science Olympiad team. For this, I prepared a series of weekly, inquiry-based lectures and activities to teach and test students about geological processes in rocky bodies, orbital dynamics, and other related phenomena. The team went on to take first place overall in the state of Michigan and competed in the national competition.