Teaching & Outreach

Outreach

Scientific Advising

I am currently the Specialty Scientific Advisor for Exotopia, an experimental sci-fi storytelling experience, which invites you to join imaginary voyages to study alien life on real exoplanets in our galaxy.


Please contact me if you are interested in finding a scientific advisor for your project!

Previous Outreach

As a graduate student, I frequently participated in Public Open Nights at the Coit Observatory at Boston University. The Coit Observatory is located on top of the building that house BU's Astronomy Department, and despite the bright lights of nearby Fenway Park, you can see some stars and planets! On most Wednesdays (weather permitting), we offered the community a chance to come observe the night sky through telescopes and binoculars and see things they otherwise might not get to see, and learn some astronomy as well!

In February 2016 I helped organize and judge an art competition hosted by the Boston University Astronomy Department titled: The Art of Astrophysics. We asked members of the BU, Boston (and international) community to create works of art that help us visualize our Universe and how we observe it. The entries were fantastic and the event was a large success. Thank you to all those who contributed their work!

While at JPL in 2012 and 2013, I assisted Dr. Bonnie Buratti in teaching a workshop for teachers (grades 3-9) titled: “Teachers Touch the Sky.” This annual, week-long workshop provides teachers with classroom activities designed to teach young students that science is a process of experimentation and discovery versus merely a class based on memorizing facts. I gave a talk on this workshop during an Education and Outreach session at the 44th American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences conference in Reno, NV in October 2012.

The Coit Observatory at Boston University. Photo credit: BU Observatory Twitter

teaching

As part of my NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship, I became an Instructor at Riverside City College in the Business, Information Systems, and Technology Department. During the Spring 2020 semester, I taught a 3-course series on introductory computer programming in Python. The setup and execution of these courses was meant to remove any barriers a student may face when trying to learn computer programming:

  • The series was free, but a programming certificate was awarded to students who passed all three courses.

  • No experience in computer programming was necessary - we started from square one.

  • No materials needed to be purchased, everything was provided. Each seat in the class had it own computer, and we installed the same software on the computers in the library.

The Spring 2020 offering was affected by COVID-19, like everything else. But we transitioned online and didn't miss a beat.

I very much look forward to offering this course series again in 2021!

In the Fall of 2016, I was awarded a Senior Teaching Fellowship by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Boston University to assist Professor Thomas Bania in teaching Astronomy 107: Life Beyond Earth. In October 2016, I was asked to give a guest lecture to the undergraduates of this course regarding the detection, characterization, and history of extrasolar planets. At the end of the year, I was awarded the 2016-2017 Outstanding Teaching Fellow Award for the Astronomy Department at BU!

As a first-year graduate student at Boston University, I was awarded two Teaching Fellowships at Boston University. During the Fall of 2013, I assisted Andrew West in teaching Astronomy 105: Alien Worlds. In the Spring of 2014, I assisted Professor Michael Mendillo in teaching Astronomy 100: Cosmic Controversies.

Participating in these classes and working with the diverse body of undergraduate students at Boston University was a very rewarding process. Here are a few comments included in my teaching evaluations:

  • “Paul was the best TA I’ve had @ BU. Honestly he was extremely helpful, knowledgable, and understanding. He was passionate about the subject and helped me immensely. Gonna be a great professor.”

  • “VERY ENTHUSIASTIC! Great at explaining concepts. Always willing to help.”

  • “He led discussion wonderfully, keeping us on task with good information. He was very helpful during office hours and went above and beyond to help students.”