Science on Screen
Science on Screen is a STEAM seminar series offering "creative pairings of current, classic, cult, and documentary films with lively introductions by notable figures from the world of science, technology, and medicine". In cooperation with the Athena Cinema, I provided the public talk to introduce the film They Live. My outdoor presentation covered the topic of planetary habitability and the prospects for intelligent extraterrestrial life in our Galaxy.
A copy of the slides from my talk can be found here.
Adopt-A-Physicist
If you are a young person interested in what physicists do, what career options are available to a physicist,
how to become a physicist, and related topics, you may not be sure how to find the answers to these questions.
The Adopt-A-Physicist program, run by the physics honor society Sigma Pi Sigma in conjunction with the American Physical Society,
facilitates connections between professional physicists and high school science students. The program consists of
a month-long conversation in a discussion board between physicists and the high school classes who "adopted" them.
I have participated as an adopted physicist in Fall 2017, 2018, and 2021.
You can read more about my participation in the 2018 program here. You can read more about the Adopt-A-Physicist program here.
Nuclear Chemistry in the Cosmos
Why are barns red? Where did the strontium used in many toothpastes come from? What makes gold?
These seemingly disparate questions are tied together by the field of nuclear astrophysics.
All of the chemical elements that make up you and your surroundings were once processed in a star or stellar explosion
and nuclear astrophysics aims to better understand how this happens. I discussed this nuclear chemistry
of the cosmos at a Spring meeting of the Columbus Section of the American Chemical Society.
A copy of this presentation can be accessed here.
Those looking for a more technical presentation
can find my webinar delivered on related research
for the Joint Institute for Nuclear
Astrophysics here on the JINA YouTube page.
If you are interested in a science outreach presentation on nuclear astrophysics at your school or organization,
please contact me.
Nuclear Astrophysics in a Nutshell
Nuclear astrophysics is the study of nuclei, the cores of atoms, and
how their interactions impact the behavior of extremely dense matter
and the origin of the elements. This research involves computational
modeling of stellar explosions, as well as recreating parts of these
stellar explosions in the laboratory. I discussed this at a level
intended for the general public in an interactive presentation
for the Ohio University College of Arts and Sciences Science Café.
You can find that discussion here on the Science Café playlist.
A copy of this presentation can be accessed here.
Those looking for a more technical presentation
can find my webinar delivered on related research
for the Joint Institute for Nuclear
Astrophysics here on the JINA YouTube page.
Nuclear Physics Lab Tours
The Edwards Accelerator Laboratory (EAL) on the Ohio Univeristy (OU) campus
is a world-class center for research in nuclear physics. We appreciate that what we do
would not be possible without tax-payer money and we would love to share our work with
you. Roughly once a year we host a general open-house (A story about a recent event is here on the OU CAS Forum), however we host several other pre-arranged tours year round.
If you would like a tour of the EAL on OU's campus, please contact me.
Popular Science Writing
Upon request, I wrote an article for the public on time travel to
correspond with the beginning of the 10th season of the BBC series
Doctor Who. The piece, "A Time Lord's Guide to Time Travel", which
is my first and only foray into popular science writing, can
be found here on the Ohio University College of Arts
and Sciences Forum.
Nuclear Astrophysics for High Schoolers at PAN
The Physics of Atomic Nuclei (PAN) camp is a science outreach program sponsored by
the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics. The purpose of PAN is to provide
high school students with the opportunity to learn about nuclear physics through a
series of hands-on experiments and lectures. I served as a lecturer for the 2015, 2016, 2020, and 2021.
PAN camps, providing an introduction to nuclear astrophysics.
A copy of the 2020 presentation can be accessed here. A recording of the 2020 presentation is here
REACHing for the Stars with Art Students
REACH art studio in Lansing, Michigan hosts after
school art programs for students of all ages. The programs often have a secondary goal
of teaching students about a topic through art. I have served as a guest lecturer for
the Creative Connections and Teen Open Studio programs, where in each case my goal was
to educate elementary through high school students about the solar system.
I make a brief appearance in this promotional video for Teen Open Studio.
Mastering Light & Matter with Middle Schoolers at MST
The Mathematics, Science, and Technology (MST) camp at Michigan State University is a short summer camp
for middle school students who have demonstrated aptitude for and interest in
math, science, and technology. The purpose of MST is to expose students
to advanced material they would otherwise not see in the classroom. I served
as a lecturer for the astrophysics portion of the 2011–2013 MST camps,
providing an overview of the interaction between light and matter.
A copy of this presentation can be accessed here.
