Teaching & Outreach

During our last herpetology field trip, we fought long and hard to catch a western whiptail (Aspidoscelis tigris) through a thorny bush, hence the gloves [1], and got bitten by a very mean Great Basin Collared lizard (Crotaphythus bicinctores) [2], and a desert spiny lizard (Sceloporus magister) [3], and came face to face with a Great Basin Rattlesnake (Crotalus lutosus) [4]

Teaching herpetology at UNR

During my PhD, I had the pleasure of serving as the teaching assistant for the Herpetology class at the University of Nevada, Reno. In this class, we use a hands-on approach, using museum specimens to teach students about the natural history of amphibians and reptiles. Further, being located right next to the Great Basin Desert allows us to take students out into the field to explore the incredible reptile diversity in their own backyards.

UNR Natural History Museum & Reno community

Throughout my PhD, I've actively participated in many outreach events organized by UNR's Natural History Museum. I've developed several activities to show my research in thermal ecology and my love for the herpetofauna of the Great Basin Desert. Outside of the museum, I've also shared my research at the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe's summer camp and given public talks at local organizations, such as the Great Basin Bird Observatory.

I bring 3D-printed operative temperature models and thermal imaging cameras to outreach events, allowing participants to experience my research hands-on.

One of the activities I've developed is "See the world through a lizard's eyes". I bring my lab's handheld thermal imaging camera, connect it to a screen, and let people see themselves as a lizard would. Simple, but unreasonably effective!

Another activity I've developed is "How to catch a lizard", where I show how to catch lizards with the lasso technique

If the event is held outside during warm months, a simple way to show the amazing local lizard diversity in Nevada is to catch a few lizards from the nearest outcrop. In this event, we were lucky enough to catch a yellow-backed spiny (Sceloporus magister) and a zebra-tailed lizard (Callisaurus draconoides).

NerdNite Reno

Outside of work, I have many other hobbies, including reading, drawing, playing basketball, and playing the guitar. However, a hobby I particularly enjoy is deep-diving into seemingly random topics. Lucky for me, a group of friends organizes NerdNite Reno, an event where anyone can give a talk to the local community about whatever they want.

This opportunity has allowed me to shape my deep dives into talks about statistically analyzing movie scores on Rotten Tomatoes, the inglorious third movie in the Fast & Furious franchise, and whether there's life on Jupiter's moon Europa. For this last talk, I was even selected to write a short piece for a NerdNite book that summarizes STEM talks across the US!

Snapshots of some of my talks about (1) whether there's life on Europa, (2) why Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift is such a brilliantly bad movie, and (3) why audience and critics' scores on Rotten Tomatoes are often insanely different.

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