Outreach

One of the great things about being an astronomer is getting to share my love and knowledge with the general public. I was active in various outreach efforts when I was graduate student at Cornell. It's been more difficult in the Netherlands since I'm not yet fluent in Dutch, but I still participate in the ASTRON "Open Dag" and run an activity every year for Girlsday, a National day to encourge girls to particpate in STEM fields. This year was a first for me - I managed to give a small presentation in Dutch!

At Cornell University, my biggest outreach activity was the Ask an Astronomer Podcast. We've expanded our Curious? Ask an Astronomer website to include a monthly podcast produced by the astronomy graduate students at Cornell where we explore various topics in astronomy. In addition to helping record and produce six podcasts, I am currently in charge of organizing the podcast effort. I also answer questions via email submitted by the public at the Curious webiste.

I have also run short workshops for a variety of events, focused on hands-on involvement in science. This includes developing a workshop on Light & Spectroscopy and running a Rockets! workshop for Expanding Your Horizons and Focus for Teens.

I am also involved with Undergraduate ALFALFA Team. I have given a talk, helped organize and run tutorial sessions, and taught students how to observe with the Arecibo telescope at the workshops in 2010, 2011 and 2012. I also manage a blog for the ALFALFA collaboration, focused on the involvement of the Undergraduate ALFALFA Team.