I. Northwestern University Computational Thinking in STEM CE21 Project

1. •Co-PI for an NSF Computing Education for the 21st Century (CE21) grant to develop, implement, and assess computational thinking (CT) in STEM curricular materials for the high-school STEM classroom. I am working with an interdisciplinary group of computer science, science education, and STEM faculty, grad students, postdocs, and local STEM teachers to spark student interest in CT coursework and career routes by portraying CT as a vital skills set that pervades modern STEM fields. To this end, we are developing curricula based on CT and computational modeling (CM) tools for traditional high-school STEM courses. This project builds on our strong existing partnerships with local schools and teachers and on our NSF GK12 program, ‘Reach for the Stars.'
   

1. •CT-STEM Teacher Training Workshops
   

II. Adler Planetarium SVL ‘Conversations with an Astronomer’

III. Co-advisor for the CIERA ‘Reach for the Stars’ GK12 program

(see Mentoring Page)

IV. AAS Committee for the Status of Women in Astronomy, Council Member & Blogger

1. • To access our Career Profile Interview Project, click here
   

2. • For information and resources in terms of work-life balance, click here
   

3. • For information and resources on climate and culture change, click here
   

4. • For information and links to videos from the Boston AAS 2011 Special Session, click here
   

5. • For family leave petition and wiki
   

6. • For UW-Madison’s graduate student Family Leave Policy, established during my years as a grad student there, click here
   

5. V.Center for Talent Development Gifted Learning Links Astronomy Instructor
   

6. • Computational Astronomy Honors Elective Course
   

7. • 6th-12th grade Astro Adventures Enrichment Course
   

VI. Flip for Physics Project, wiki

1. •Co-PI and lead organizer for American Physical Society ‘Physics on the Road’ funded project connecting local high-school students with local physics research labs. Students use ‘flip’ cameras to videotape the research occurring in the lab and conduct interviews of scientists in the lab. They then edit these videos to a 5 minute highlight video, to be posted on the lab’s website and shown at local career fairs and science fairs.
   

2. •http://ciera.northwestern.edu/Flip4Physics.php
   

7. VII.Galaxy Evolution Citizen Science Collaborative Research Project & Article Writing
   

8. •Taking advantage of the infrastructure set up by the GalaxyZoo group at the Adler Planetarium and Oxford, I am leading a project to crowd-source the classification of post-starburst galaxies merger signatures and collaboratively write an article presenting the results and implications for galaxy evolution. I am working with Stuart Lynn and Laura Whyte, as well as over 100 ‘uber-classifiers’ from the GalaxyZoo citizen science group.
   

9. •http://www.galaxyzoo.org/
   

10. •http://letters.zooniverse.org/
    

11. •http://talk.galaxyzoo.org
    

VIII. Science Advisor for the Adler Planetarium

    Literature review of the elemental composition of the human body, the elemental        

    composition of our Universe, and the percent contribution from astronomical processes

    (e.g., Big Bang nucleosynthesis, stellar processes, cosmic ray spallation) to the elemental

    composition in the human body.

    Developing new interactive activities for the upcoming Deep Space Adventure Cosmology    

    Exhibit.

IX. Internal Research Seminar Series Organizer for the Adler Planetarium

X. Universe in the Park

   As a graduate student at UW-Madison, I gave dozens of public astronomy talks followed by     

    telescope night sky shows in state parks across Wisconsin.

    Please email me if you would be interested in having me host a night sky show for your

    organization.

XI. NASA International Year of Astronomy Outreach Ambassador

   Using the NASA grant as seed funding, I obtained materials and constructed Wisconsin’s    

    ‘From Earth to the Universe’ exhibit, which consists of 40 beautiful astronomical images

    printed to large-scale 4’x3’ dimensions with captions in English, Spanish, and Hmong. My

    scavenger hunt in both English and Spanish helped guide kids (and kids at heart) through

    the exhibit. The exhibit was used as the centerpiece for outreach events across Wisconsin,

    from the New Year’s Eve extravaganza at UW Space Place Science Museum to the

    Madison Overture Center for the Arts to an outdoor farmer’s market to the Science

    Expeditions festival. The exhibit also spent longer periods of time on display at the

    Milwaukee Planetarium and Yerkes Observatory, and UW-Whitewater.

    In February 2011 the exhibit will move from Wisconsin to its new home in Illinois. Please    

    email me if you are interested in using the ‘From Earth to the Universe’ exhibit for outreach

    at your institution.

XI. Co-organizer for After-School Astronomy Program (ASAP)

   

    Weekly after-school astronomy enrichment sessions for Boys ‘N Girls Club middle-school

    students, held at the UW Space Place Science Museum.

XII. PEOPLE Party with the Stars

    Public astronomy talk followed by a night sky show at the Space Place Science Museum led

    by a group of PEOPLE undergraduate students (the PEOPLE program provides college

    prep and financial support for minority students). I provided support and advice.

XIII. Expanding your Horizons Astronomy Special Session Leader

    I organized and led the annual Expanding your Horizons astronomy session at UW-

    Madison. I’m very interested in participating in a similar outreach event for middle-school

    girls interested in science here in Illinois.

    Check out “Who Stole Sally Ride’s Space Suit?”, the Astronomy Picture of the Day web-   

    based game I developed for one of the EYH sessions.

XIV. Doomsday 2012 Resources