Outreach

• I started and run the Fort Lewis Summer Scholars Program, which brings three Fort Lewis College undergraduates to CU Boulder to do astrophysics research each summer. The goal of the program is to open pathways to astronomy professions for Native American students. The inaugural program was in Summer 2023; read about it here. Funding thanks go to NSF AST-2219108.
  
  

  Summer 2023 Fort Lewis Scholars and mentors at the end of summer poster symposium

• I started and run the Rocky Mountain National Park astronomy interns program, which hires two CU undergraduates to lead night sky telescope viewings and presentations for the public at the Park each summer. The inaugural program was in Summer 2022; read about it here. Funding thanks go to NSF AST-1847938.
  

  Summer 2023 Rocky Mountain National Park astronomy interns Amelia Gandhi and Reese Conti, with Park Ranger Danielle York

  

  Summer 2022 Rocky Mountain National Park astronomy interns Joe Zator (left) and MacKenzie Dean (right)

• I led the creation of the planetarium show Cosmic Mashups: Gravity, Galaxies, and Supermassive Black Holes (see trailer in English) / Enredo Cosmico (see trailer in Spanish), which are full-length planetarium shows released in English and Spanish for free to planetariums worldwide. Since its public release in February 2023, it has been downloaded by over 170 planetariums in 35 countries and 34 states. Funding thanks go to NSF AST-1714503.
  

  Title screens from the Cosmic Mashups / Enredo Cosmico planetarium shows

• I created the Texas Astronomy Undergraduate Research Symposium, where undergraduates from across Texas gather to present 10 minute talks about their research in astronomy. The first Symposium was in 2011, and it has kept going since I moved to Boulder. The host university rotates each year, and the hosts have included UT Austin, Texas A&M, Rice University, and Baylor University. Funding thanks go to NSF AST-1102525.

  

  Texas Astronomy Undergraduate Research Symposium, at Baylor University