Outreach
At least 1/3 of my time as a graduate student at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston has been spent creating, volunteering, or working for an outreach program.
University of Houston STEMinist podcast
To work on my science communication skills, I began and hosted the UH Engineering STEMinist podcast. The first season included mini episodes of random STEM based topics such as climate change, NASA returning to Venus, and the Vajont dam disaster. The second season highlighted ground breaking research from women at UH through an interview style format. While research and careers were a major component of these interviews, so was talking about hardships women face in STEM positions, especially under-represented women.
GeoFORCE
GeoFORCE is a K-12 outreach program of the Jackson School of Geosciences designed to increase the number and diversity of students pursuing STEM degrees and careers, especially the geosciences. I began working with GeoFORCE as an educational coach (EC) which is similar to a teaching assistant. As an EC, I developed and led activities that reinforced newly taught material and facilitated student learning by clarifying points of confusion. Once moving on to the instructor position, I was able to take the lead on designing a volcanology curriculum using geoscience education best practices as well as delivering lectures and leading activities in the field. I mainly taught 11th graders, who travel to the Pacific Northwest and see many volcanoes and volcanic products.
Mentoring
Much of my free time is spent volunteering either about volcanology or supporting student mental health. List of volunteer work:
- Geoscience Education & Mentorship Support mentor
- Blog writer for PhD in Volcanology Careers Outside Academia
- Career Day speaker at Hastings High School
- Skype a Scientist
- Graduate student orientation trip volunteer
- Committee member for the graduate student executive committee (GSEC) at UT Austin
In the news
.jpg)
