Outreach

Flipgrid explorer: Antarctica

While wintering over at Palmer Station, Antarctica in 2016, I was invited by Flipgrid to create an explorer grid about my last month on station. The grid featured an adventure blog where I showed students what life was like on station and what I was working on, but also drew in student participation. I posted weekly topics about science or fish and students sent in their responses. Along with the grid, I also skyped with one classroom with high levels of student participation for a Q&A session.

Flipgrid Explorer: Nature

During my stay in Panama for Northeastern University’s Three Seas Program in 2017, I worked with Flipgrid to create a grid based on observing the natural world around us. I posted videos in an adventure journal of terrestrial and marine life that I encountered in Panama, including videos taken while diving. Students were encouraged to conduct their own observational projects and to share their results over the course of the month. Additionally, the grid featured a Q&A section for students to ask me questions about science, animals or working in Panama.

Science club for girls

In the fall of 2013, I joined Science Club for Girls, a program that matches scientist mentors to girls from grades K-8 without any cost to their families. The program aims to help girls, particularly those belonging to demographics underrepresented in STEM fields to gain confidence in STEM subjects by doubling their weekly exposure to science. In club sessions, college-aged mentors and high school junior mentors work with a group of girls in the same grade on different scientific concepts and experiments.

I worked with the same group of girls until they graduated from the program at the end of middle school. Teaching the girls to have more confidence in their ideas and ability to retain complex information about science and technology was incredibly rewarding. They recently implemented an experimental program for middle school aged girls to continue participation in SCFG and I was asked to help lead it due to my strength as a mentor. During this time, I helped edit the designed club materials while mentoring preteens.