Teaching
I have been exceptionally lucky to benefited from good teachers and mentors whose influence has enabled me to work in a field that I love. I also see the primary function of a scientist to be to enrich the human experience. I therefor view providing outreach and mentoring a essential to my role as a scientist.
Throughout my career, I have had extensive experience as a teacher and mentor at the high school and college level by working as an instructor for MITES and Science programs in Korea and serving as a mentor and undergraduate thesis co-advisor for students in the CHAMP and MSRP programs.
A central goal in my physics teaching is for the students to gain a sufficient enthusiasm for the material and an appreciation its broader implications that they are willing to put in the work necessary to master it. To obtain these goals, I attempt to draw off of direct applications in astrophysics and research whenever possible along with hands-on examples.
Seoul Science High School, Summer/Winter Research Program Instructor
From 2017 to the present, I have instructed a class in cosmology and scientific programming at Seoul Science High School, one of the preeminent math and science high schools in South Korea. I have also taught this course at Daegu Science High School, Seoul High School, and Incheon High School for Science and Arts.
I create lessons, homework assignments, and hands-on group projects, and run the class. The course uses Cosmology and the Friedman equations as a platform for introducing python and numerical solutions to ordinary differential equations.
MITES Physics Instructor
From 2012 to 2016, I taught a vibrations and waves/special relativity course for the Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) program. MITES provides rising high-school seniors with an intense college-level academic and research experience over six weeks during the summer.
As an instructor, I develop a curriculum; prepare and lead three, 1.5, hour lectures a week over the six weeks of the course; create problem sets and exams along with their solutions; hold office hours; and meet with students who require additional help with the material. I have also provided mentoring to my students on physics, applying to college, and getting involved in research.
Undergraduate Research Supervisor
Over my time in graduate school and as a post-doc, I have supervised the research of various undergraduates, and high-school students. Some are now working on their astronomy PhDs with NSF fellowships, some are in industry. One is now working in an elite IDF research unit.