One of my paintings depicting two galaxies merging
Picture from MIT Physics News |
Outreach & Art
Art is a vital way to communicate information and engage audiences, two incredibly important aspects of science. When organizing and volunteering in outreach activities, I try to incorporate beautiful visualizations, paintings, and illustrations as much as possible.
Recently, I was awarded NSF funding to create astronomy children's books. This project will take place over the next few years and include outreach events at Boston-area elementary schools. I am also involved in several other outreach groups.
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ASTRONOMY CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Creating an astronomy children’s book is a dream of mine, and I am so excited that NSF decided to support this project. The first book, "You Are Here", has been written and the second book is being edited. After publication, we plan to work with Boston-area elementary schools to distribute copies through a series of outreach events.
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GALACTIC ARCHAEOLOGY COMIC
As part of a science communication course at MassArt, I collaborated with artist Jenny O'Grady on a comic explaining galactic archaeology and my research. You can view the full comic here!
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SPACE OUTREACH ACTIVITIES
I regularly organize space-themed outreach activities for elementary, middle, and high-school students. These activities include bottle rockets, robotics, moon craters, gravity wells, and more! I most recently ran space activities for Harvard's 2024 Pi Day, an event hosting students from four local middle schools. If you're interested in me organizing activities for students at your school, please reach out!
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SATELLITE ART
As part of "the largest art exhibit in space", I drew some little raccoons on a Planet Dove Satellite that was launched into space in 2022. This satellite is part of the full Planet satellite constellation that provides global coverage on a daily basis.
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OUTREACH TALKS
I give outreach talks such as Astronomy on Tap Boston, which hosts public astronomy events at local bars, breweries, and coffee shops, and MIT Museum's Science Cafe, which connects high school students with science experts at the MIT Museum.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL COURSES
I created and taught a short Introduction to Cosmology class for middle school students through MIT Spark in 2021. I also volunteered as an introductory computer science teacher for a semester at Everett Public Schools through Citizen Schools in 2019.
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MIT SEDS
I was the Treasurer for MIT SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space). I also created our logo and banner. MIT SEDS runs a seminar series, several technical projects, and space-themed outreach events.
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MIT ASTROGAZERS
I was one of the original members of MIT Sidewalk Astrogazers, an outreach program that sets up telescopes on sidewalks around Cambridge and Boston to teach the public about astronomy and astrophysics. I also designed the logo, hats/shirts, and banner.
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URSA SAPIENS BLOG
Ursa Sapiens is a science-focused blog associated with Brown University's chapter of The Triple Helix. I helped design and run the site when I acted as Head of Design from 2014-2017: brown-tth.com
SCIENCE CARTOONS (SCITOONS)
SciToons' goal is to combine art, animation, high-quality multimedia and storytelling to engage a broader audience in science. Below you can see a video that I worked on with other members of the group: