Outreach & Activities
A brief description of some of the astrophysics-related outreach and activities I am/have been involved in.
@ Wesleyan University
Student Director, Van Vleck Observatory (Fall 2019 - Spring 2021)
As the student director, I was responsible for training students on the observatory’s 24” Perkin research telescope, selecting targets to be observed by the telescope operators during their shifts, and maintaining the VVO telescopes and their facilities. I was also involved in the testing and initialization phase of the observatory’s 24” PlaneWave telescope, and led students in operating this piece of state-of-the-art equipment.
Co-founder, Wesleyan Astronomy & Space Club (WesAstro) (Fall 2018 - Spring 2021)
Founded alongside Benjamin C.O. Martinez ‘21 and Gilberto Garcia ‘20, WesAstro is an astronomy club for majors and non-majors alike at Wesleyan University. It meets weekly to discuss a topic in astronomy, or popular science, with students after a short presentation by members of the group.
Co-founder, Cosmology & Astroparticle Physics Journal Club (CAPPJC) (Spring 2019 - Fall 2020)
Founded alongside Benjamin C. O. Martinez ‘21 and Nikki Pallat ‘21 as a way to get more exposure to emerging topics in interesting fields not represented in Wesleyan’s research, members of CAPPJC met weekly to discuss recent papers in these fields (particle physics, general relativity, etc).
Member, Wesleyan Astronomy Diversity Journal Club (DJC) (Summer 2020)
The DJC, an initiative started by Dr. Kevin Flaherty as a postdoc at Wesleyan, is comprised of both students and faculty and meets bi-weekly to discuss an article related to diversity in astronomy, STEM or in general, with the goal of reflecting on the department’s own shortcomings and organizing to improve.
Telescope operator (Fall 2017 - Spring 2021)
After a (pandemic-interrupted) year of investigation by myself and Anthony Santini (B.A. ‘19, M.A. ‘19), the 24” Perkin research telescope at Wesleyan is once again operational. I operated the telescope throughout my undergraduate career, and did the same with the brand-new 24” PlaneWave telescope during its testing and initialization phase.
Volunteer, Space Night and Kids’ Night @ VVO (Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)
Space Nights are evenings at Van Vleck Observatory where the public are encouraged to come listen to an engaging presentation given by an astronomy student and observe with our telescopes. In the case of Kids’ Night, a short activity is prepared by students for children from the community to participate in while learning about astronomy. I’ve been involved as a volunteer for both of these events.