OUTREACH

I have received awards for my outreach efforts:

• Member of Spitzer Observing Program for Teachers and Students Team, awarded NASA Group Achievement Award 2007.
• The Donald E. MacMinn Award for Service Beyond the Walls of the University, University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Spring 1998.
• University of Chicago President's Service Award, Spring 1997.

Want me to come give a public talk to your group? Email me!

Links related to my public talk on Spitzer.

Links related to my public talk on rotation in young stars.

I used to be (2002-2006) the content webmaster for the Spitzer Science Center (SSC) public web pages (as distinct from Spitzer [general public] web pages). It retained the overall basic design structure (and look-and-feel) of the original pages that were in place when I got here, but I overhauled and rearranged things, and I worked constantly to make sure the content of the pages is all up-to-date. I also created/maintained several more groups of pages that are all internal to the Spitzer project. Now I only look after a few groups of pages.

I've been a webmaster in various ways more or less continuously since 1994. Other groups of pages I designed (but no longer maintain) include these, most of which have changed since I last touched any of them (c'est la web):

• The UChicago Astronomy department server. This is the first and largest site I created. We launched in 1994, I redesigned it in 1998, and I pretty much quit when I graduated in 2000, though they didn't actually replace me until 2001. I took care of the organization and content. Now it's at least partially redone.
• The Yerkes Observatory (changed since I last edited it), including the Yerkes Observatory Virtual Tour (unchanged as of june 2007). I did not write the Virtual Museum (gone as of june 2007!), but I redesigned it so that it was readable and filled in many of the holes. The Yerkes site was launched in 1994 with the departmental server.
• (these sites unchanged as of june 2007) The Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica (CARA), including the CARA Virtual Tour of the South Pole. The latter has been linked into CNN stories on the South Pole. The CARA site was launched in 1995 and redesigned in 1998. It has substantial scientific and educational sections in addition to the Virtual Tour. I have also designed pages for them associated with special trips to the Pole and special classes they have run. I did not design the South Pole Adventure Web Page, but reformatted it in 1998 so that it was readable and accessible by students and the general public on AOL. I did all the updates to that part of the server (e.g. travelogues, Q&A) after that through Aug 2000.
• ASCI/Alliances Center for Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes. This site was launched in 1999, and was taken over by Flash Center staff in 2000; it's now totally changed since I last edited it.

Hints for good (IMHO) hypertext. I have some rather strong opinions on what makes a good web document. This dated document still pretty much summarizes the philosophy behind all of my web design.

Starting in 2005, my most recent outreach effort (beyond public talks, above) has been with the Spitzer Teachers program. My first team is studying a small clump of gas and dust excited by Rigel, Orion's knee. My second team has just started in 2008, and we're studying Lynds clouds. We're working on producing at least one refereed journal article on all these data.

In 1995-1996 I helped found these two groups:

• Chicago Public Schools - Univ of Chicago Internet Project (CUIP) -- bringing the internet to the 25 local public schools around the University of Chicago (inner city!), and helping them incorporate it into the curriculum! Fun, but a lot of work. Fortunately, this paid my salary for a little while, and it taught me a lot about networking, management, and how "the real world" works. I also gained a lot of respect for teachers, especially those in the Chicago Public Schools system. The group continues to do wonderful things; I left in 1998 to finish my thesis work.

• Science Partners for Teachers -- set up one-on-one partnerships between scientists (mostly graduate students) and area school teachers. I was a co-coordinator of the group with Lucia Munoz-Franco. I only had one partnership, (basically because I was too busy running it), but here's my summary of the experience, including lesson plans and reactions from the kids. Apparently we ran the group a little too well, because we were unable to find someone to take over leadership of the group when both Lucia and I both needed to refocus our energies on our thesis work. I still think the idea is viable, and I hope that CUIP will be able to help resurrect the Science Partners idea in the future. Science Partners received rave reviews from the teachers involved, and from the external evaluator CUIP hired.

• CARA outreach -- I worked with inner-city high school kids, teaching them physics, coaching science fair projects, etc. I got started on this with a teaching assistantship in '93-'94, but I worked with them on and off through my tenure at Chicago because the kids are great!

• Adler Planetarium -- I volunteered here when I could because teaching astronomy to the general public is fun... you get a lot of interesting reactions from people. My largest volunteer effort for them was during the Shoemaker-Levy 9 Jovian Impact in 1994 -- Adler didn't realize the wealth of observations obtainable on the web (which was still a relatively new phenomenon then) and I helped Adler make these images available to, and interpret them for, the public.

• Science-By-Mail -- I had about 15 pen pals who are all in about 4th grade. They got labs from the Museum of Science in Boston and they sent their observations and questions to me via snail mail. The topics included things like science of sports, planetary science, weather, science magic, and garbage. The labs are clever and the kids are fun! For info, write to Science-By-Mail, Museum of Science, Science Park, Boston, MA 02114-1099 or visit their server.

list of astronomy outreach links