Mentoring
I strongly believe that positive connections are the building blocks of healthy communities both in STEM and beyond. Through mentoring, I hope to foster these connections to help make the world a kinder, fairer, and more inclusive place. Right now, my formal mentorship roles include corresponding with middle-school students through Letters to a Prescientist, mentoring in my community through Big Brothers Big Sisters (and previously through Project Friendship), and serving as a mentor for undergraduates at UCSC.
Seymour Marine Discover Center Center
Here in Santa Cruz, I volunteer at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center. I often spend my mornings interpreting the touch tanks for young visitors, providing tours that highlight the role of scientific research in conservation, and inspiring a love and respect for the ocean!
What’s Cooking
As part of my involvement with Daybreak Day Camp, I developed the science curriculum the What’s Cooking program, a virtual STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) cooking program for middle school students. The program was three days during school vacation week, run over Zoom with students in their own families’ kitchens.
Drawing inspiration from the Young Chef’s program at Carleton College, I developed science/cooking lessons including yeast/baking bread, acid-base chemistry/making pickles, and the scientific method/designing cookie recipes. The program was a result of a collaboration with Cambridge Camping, Lesley University, and financial support from Biogen.
Fort Johnson REU
As part of my Fort Johnson REU experience, we learned about science communication and had some opportunities to practice our new skills. Here are a few of the science communication products that I was involved with:
- I was featured on the Conservation Connection podcast with Last Chance Endeavors.
- I wrote a series of blog posts designed for non-expert audiences.
- I produced a short video designed for younger audiences about what my research was and why it matters.