Education and Public Outreach activities
I seek to effectively communicate my science, and the scientific research of others, to non-specialist audiences — whether they be 4th graders, undergraduates, or funding agencies. I also seek to enable other scientists to better communicate what they do and why to those around them. I view improving scientific teaching, communication, and facilitating positive interactions between researchers and the public as an important part of my role as a scientist in society.
Some of my recent activities:
- Read my guest posts over at the AGU's communicating science blog - The Plainspoken Scientist - about my decision to engage in outreach during my postdoc, tips on how to make outreach effective through partnerships, and how to find resources to improve outreach efforts.
- Hear more about my thoughts on both my research and my outreach work in this interview with Robyn Dahl
- I feature in and wrote this educational classroom-use video on geologic time for MIT's BLOSSOMS video program.
- Watch a video of a public program on Astrobiology and Paleontology I gave at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in November, 2010.
MIT NASA Astrobiology Team:
I am currently the Education and Outreach Lead for the MIT NASA Astrobiology Team. Read more about projects I am involved with at our website, and see the growing list of education resources we are building here. Note that we are on Facebook and Twitter - follow us to keep up with the latest news and resources.
Teaching:
I will be teaching an undergraduate course on Astrobiology in the MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences during MIT's winter session IAP.
I have been fortunate to act as a teaching fellow in a number of undergraduate courses both as a graduate student at Harvard University and as an undergraduate at Cornell University:
Head Teaching Fellow, Paleobiological Perspectives on Ecology and Evolution, Harvard University Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Spring 2009. Professor Charles Marshall.
Teaching Fellow, Dinosaurs and Their Relatives, Harvard University Core Program, Spring 2008. Professor Charles Marshall.
Teaching Fellow, History of the Earth, Harvard University Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Spring 2006. Professors Daniel Schrag and Paul Hoffman.
Teaching Fellow, Environmental Risks & Disasters, Harvard University Core Program, Fall 2006. Professor Brendan Mead.
Teaching Assistant, Paleobiology, Cornell University Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Fall 2003. Professor Warren Allmon.
Teaching Assistant, Hawaii Earth Science Field Course, Cornell University Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, January 2002. Professor Alexandra Moore.
In addition, I completed two courses on scientific teaching and communication while at Harvard, and at MIT am a member of the HHMI Science Education group.
Mentoring:
- I am currently mentoring MIT undergraduate student Kim Barker. Kim is working with me to analyzing organic biomarkers from the Chuar Group of the Grand Canyon.
- During the summers of 2010 and 2011, I mentored Cambridge high school student Amy Campbell. Amy worked on our Virtual Field Trip project and also searched for microfossils in Neoproterozoic rock samples.
Paleontological Society:
I am a member of the Paleontological Society's Education and Outreach Committee.
sideWalk Through Time
I helped to organize a Harvard community public art/science project on September 29th, 2009, in 
collaboration with the Harvard Museum of Natural History and local street artist Sidewalk Sam. We created a 200 meter timeline of the Phanerozoic on the sidewalks outside the HMNH and illustrated it with chalk drawings of animals and plants from each time period. We also brought out specimens from Harvard's teaching collection and had graduate students and staff on hand to answer questions and talk about the fossil record. Students from all over the University participated and created amazing works of (temporary) art.