Citizen Science

Citizen science, also known as community science, is a growing and vital component of astronomical community. Not only does citizen science enable new, large-scale efforts to analyze data and make discoveries, but it also serves to make astronomy and science more accessible. Interest and trust in science is built through inclusion and by allowing anyone to take part in the scientific process.

SETI Institute / Unistellar

I have grown my investment in citizen science by joining the Science Team at Unistellar, which partners with the SETI Institute. Unistellar makes the eVscope, a mass-market, computerized telescope capable of taking amazing images of celestial objects and conducting science from your backyard.

I believe that the Unistellar Network of eVscopes is capable of conducting Citizen Science on a scale never seen before. As an astronomer and as an advocate for Citizen Science, I am compelled to contribute to this effort.

I currently lead the Exoplanet Transit Program at Unistellar. Take a look at our Exoplanet Science Page and the recent Blogs for updates on our activities.

In 2022, I led a Unistellar expedition to the Arabian desert outside of Dubai to catch an asteroid occultation by Didymos, just days before the DART mission collided with its moon, Dimorphos.

Exoplanet discovery & Follow-up

I work with Citizen Scientists on various aspects of exoplanet discovery and follow-up. These efforts recently led to the discovery of the exciting giant exoplanet TOI-2180 b. This effort is documented in the NPR Shortwave podcast embedded below.

The two single transit events observed by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, both identified in the massive TESS dataset by Community Scientists.