Outreach

Science-literacy is the best way to help our communities address complex problems and make informed decisions, and its the job of educators and science professionals to reach out and cultivate an understanding and appreciation for science. I am an ardent advocate for science and astronomy outreach: to connect with audiences young and old about the wonders of space, as well as the importance of scientific scrutiny. Everyone connects with scientific ideas differently, and I’ve endeavored to create opportunities for engagement outside the university classroom. Be it hosting planetarium shows or side-walk star parties, or volunteering at Victoria’s Nerd Nite.

I often give lectures and more kid-friendly astronomy activities to educational groups, if you’d like me to come and meet with your group feel free to contact me. In the past I’ve spoken at the historic Theodor Jacobsen Observatory in Seattle, the University of Victoria, the University of Cambridge (A recording of which you can watch below, courtesy of the University of Cambridge Institute of Astronomy), the Royal BC Museum and more.

I also have a tangential passion for astronomy history, both the myths and stories we have told about the stars through time, as well as the techniques passed peoples used to understand the cosmos. My research analyzing the Santa Maria Degli Angeli e dei Martiri Meridian Line (supervised by Dr. Woodruff Sullivan) is published in The British Sundial Society Bulletin. Meridian lines use pinhole projects of the sun to ascertain the date based on the sun’s position in the sky. The image of the Santa Maria meridian line below was taken on the summer solstice (hence why the sun spot is in Cancer the Crab, the astrological sign for late June!)