Outreach
I have been engaged in community service and outreach ever since Key Club in high school. Wherever I work, it is a great pleasure to work with like-minded individuals who care about bringing the joys and wonders of science to their communities. Among my favorite outreach activities was serving as a "Galaxy Guide" almost every Sunday in 2007 at the Space Odyssey exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and participating in the annual AstroFest at Penn State. Below are a few photos from the many events I have participated in over the past two decades.
Astronomy Day at CU Boulder (2005)
Look closely and I can be seen in two stills, one describing spectroscopy, and the other discussing images of the solar surface as revealed by the heliostat.
Fourth of July at Penn State (2008)
My officemates and I take a break from handing out masks at the Fourth of July festival to show onlookers what real astrophysics research looks like (done in the office, at the computer!) But the reason we were there was to support the astronomy department, which passed out masks with diffraction gratings to demonstrate that fireworks of different colors have distinct spectra given their unique chemical compositions.
Exploration Day at Penn State (2009)
Supervising the launch of an air bottle rocket!
Exploration Day at Penn State (2012)
Featuring another rocket launch- this time, a water bottle rocket.
Partial Solar Eclipse (2023)
Showing younger children the joys of the partial solar eclipse using a pinhole camera.