Outreach
AIP's TEAM-UP, Bloomington Indiana
April 2021 - Present
As part of the Diversity Committee, we work with the Physics department to build a more inclusive department for Black and African American students in Physics and Astronomy based on the American Institute of Physics' TEAM-UP Project.
Diversity Committee, Bloomington, IN
Fall 2020 - Fall 2022
Member of the newly created Diversity committee in the IU Astronomy Department. Focuses on investigating methods to increase the diversity of the department.
Outreach Coordinator
July 2021 - July 2023
Responsibilities Include:
- Work closely with Event Coordinators, Department Chair, Group Presidents, and Instructors to develop and plan Outreach Events presented by the Indiana University Astronomy Department.
- Build relationships with departments outside Astronomy to encourage annual Outreach events.
- Running the departmental Twitter account to promote sciences to the general public.
- Encourage graduate students to participate in events by planning exciting opportunities for their professional development through Outreach.
Events Organized Include, but not limited to, the following:
- Science Fest 2022: University-wide festival celebrating the sciences by presenting activities for children to do. Largest Science Fest to date, with over 3000 attendees.
- Science Fest 2021: Created two new activities with several other staples. Many safety precautions taken because target age group could not be vaccinated against COVID at the time it was hosted.
- mid-Autumn Festival: Tour of Kirkwood Observatory for members of a photography group celebrating their Chinese holiday.
- Numerous private Kirkwood Observatory Tours for organizations at different age and grade levels, as well as for individuals, such as a maternity photo-shoot and a graduation photo-shoot.
- The department’s first invitation to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis for their STEM day with a tabletop activity.
Solar Lab, Bloomington, IN
Fall 2023
Participated in the Solar Lab tours within Kirkwood Observatory. Discussed sunspots, spectroscopy, and telescopes.
Eclipse Workshop: Train the Trainer, Bloomington, IN
Fall 2023
Workshop designed for local teachers to better prepare for the upcoming eclipses, October 2023 and April 2024. Helped build a solar viewer, set-up, and tear down for the workshop
Vienna-Finley Elementary School: Space Day, Remote
Fall 2023
Designed and presented an online presentation for elementary school kids on astronomy filters for their space day celebration.
Children's Museum STEM Exploration Day, Indianapolis, IN
Fall 2022
Performed a tabletop activity for children at the world's largest children's museum, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Taught children to think critically by having them pack a space telescope (JWST) into a cylindrical tube (the Ariane5 Rocket).
RISE: Gravitational Waves, Bloomington, IN
June 2021
Jim Holland Research Initiative in STEM Education (RISE) is a program at IU to encourage STEM education in rising underrepresented high school students. Presented a two online talks on gravitational waves. Included interactive learning by fitting LIGO data in order to approximate a mass and distance to the black hole mergers.
GEMS (Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science): Filters, Bloominton, IN
March 2023
Developed and presented an Expo Table on the filters Astronomers use for observations. Included interactive learning by playing with red and blue gels to see the differences in the astronomical images presented.
April 2021
Developed and presented a talk on the filters Astronomers use for observations. I presented online, a total of four times to groups of 7-8 middle school girls. Included interactive learning by playing with red and blue gels to see the differences in the astronomical images presented.
Bartholomew County Public Library, Columbus, IN
November 2019
Utilizing a simple circuit, I designed and presented an experiment for adults and children to learn about electric potential and Ohm's Law.
December 2019
Designed, planned, and executed the lunar phase activity with Oreo's and observing the Moon through an 8-in reflector telescope.
Kirkwood Observatory, Bloomington, IN
2019 - Present
Co-host public observing nights on 12-inch refractor for the local community. The moon, planets, and a few Messier objects are the main objects viewed. Typical attendance is approximately 60 people per night.
From 2021-2023, I gave small private tours for different organizations, which include the IU Foundations, a high school Earth & Space Science and Physics class, Association for Cultural Economics International Conference held for international visitors and the Boys and Girls Club.
Science Festival, Bloomington, IN
2017 - Present
Participate in annual outreach science festival that provides hands-on science activities for children. Duties have included making comets, welcoming families into Kirkwood Observatory, asking children questions about the Solar System, reading children's stories to young kids.
Solar Eclipse, Nashville, IN
Summer 2017
As part of an all-day Saturday event to engage children in the sciences, I and two colleagues explained the Solar System and how solar eclipses work to seven groups of 20 young elementary school children.
Bloomington, IN 2017
I and two colleagues explained the solar eclipse to 20 middle school students as part of a classroom visit.