Astronomy on Tap Public Talk

UCSC’s chapter of Astronomy on Tap puts on monthly public talks to inform the local community about astronomical research and discoveries. In May 2021, I presented a virtual talk titled “The Milky Way Structure Throughout History”, which summarizes our understanding of the MW structure throughout history to the present day. Check out the YouTube recording of the talk if you’re interested!

La Noche de las Estrellas

Lick Observatory hosts a visitor’s night for the Spanish-speaking community called “La Noche de las Estrellas”. Leading up to the main evening at the Observatory, UCSC Astro grads visit local high school science classrooms and clubs to run astronomy-themed activities, answer questions about space, and dispel common myths about what a scientist looks/acts like. Since October 2017, I have been involved in visiting classrooms, assisting on the main telescope night, and I currently act as the head grad organizer.

Undergraduate Mentoring

Through UCSC’s Society of Physics Students (SPS) and Women in Physics and Astronomy (WiPA) groups, I have been a mentor to incoming first-year and transfer students in the undergraduate Physics department. Each year, we are paired with a mentee to provide guidance in terms of choosing courses, applying to research groups, planning for grad school, and checking in on their transition to university.

Research Mentoring

I have co-mentored groups of undergraduate physics students through UCSC’s AY9 - Introduction to Research course. This course allows students to experience what real scientific research is like by guiding them through an open research question and learning to perform data analysis. One goal of this course is to attract first-generation college students and students from underrepresented groups to increase retention and interest in STEM.