Outreach, Teaching & Service

Outreach

I primarily conduct astronomy outreach focusing on underrepresented minorities and K-12 Special Needs students (including children on the Autism Spectrum and those with Down Syndrome). Here are some examples of outreach work I've done.

Solar System Activities with K-12 Special Education Students

For children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the National Institute of Mental Health prescribes focused and challenging learning activies that provide a high degree of structure, communication and social skills such as pretend play. Many astronomy activities geared for young children fit this prescription perfectly! I have organized in-class visits with students who have ASD and students with Down Syndrome. I led the students in learning activities such as creating tin foil comets and demonstrations such as making a dry ice comet.

UC Irvine Great American Eclipse Viewing Party

Myself and another UCI Physics & Astronomy Graduate Student, Arianna Brown organized a department supported Public Eclipse Event for the Great American Eclipse on August 21, 2017. It was quite the success! We had >1000 attendees (an audience only paralled by the Nobel Laureate Dedication in 1995) and >500 livestream viewers. Our event was covered by local news (OC register) outlets such as the OC Register, KTLA and NBC.

Check out the Storify!

Some Aweomse Organizations I've Worked With:

Letters to a Pre-Scientist is an organization with the mission to 'demystify science careers by creating personal connections between students from high-poverty schools and real scientists.'

CareerInSTEM works 'to provide opportunities for middle and high school students to learn and DO what real STEM professionals do.'

DreamWakers is an organization that connects professionals to 4th - 12th grade classrooms in underserved areas across the country with the goal to 'shed light on the real-world applicability of classroom curriculum, while at the same time inspiring and empowering students to plan for their futures.'

Teaching & Service

While I was in the Master's of Science Program at Cal State Long Beach, I instructed Intro to Astronomy Lab for two semesters. This is a stand-alone lab class. I developed the syllabus using the provided text which contained in-class experiments. Additionally, I created, assigned and graded homework, quizzes, exams and a mid-term project. A sample syllabi can be viewed here.

Currently, I am the Junior Board Fellow on the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's Board of Directors. With the ASP, I work with the Staff and Board Directors to help diversity astronomy and make it an inclusive environment for all!

Additionally at my home institution, I serve on UCI Physics & Astronomy's Inclusive Excellence Committee and their Physics Graduate Caucaus. (Websites coming soon!) Through these groups, I am working to create and revitalize peer mentoring programs within the Physics & Astronomy Department.