STEM Professionals Day
In May 2022 I participated in Science Week at PS154 in Brooklyn, NY. The school hosted a STEM Professionals Day to introduce elementary school kids to the wide variety of STEM careers available to them. I and several speakers held a ZOOM session in which each of us discussed the role science and engineering play in our careers, and then the students were invited to Q&A sessions in breakout rooms with each speaker. I enjoyed speaking with the students and was surprised by how creative (‘what’s your spirit sea creature?’) and insightful (‘will technology be society’s downfall or savior?’) some of their questions were!
New Jersey Ocean Fun Days
NJ Ocean Fun Days are an event held every spring to teach local families and particularly kids about the coastal environment and how to take care of our oceans! Each year volunteers come to two locations – Sandy Hook and Island Beach State Park – to present interactive exhibits about local ecosystems, sustainable fisheries, conservation, climate science, and oceanography. I participated in the NOAA-GFDL exhibit at the Island Beach State Park event for several years. We presented experiments on ocean acidification and sea ice to teach visitors about some of the ways in which human activities are influencing the oceans.
Princeton Plasma Physics Lab's Young Women's Conference
The PPPL Young Women’s Conference is devoted to encouraging middle- and high-school aged girls to pursue careers in STEM fields. Volunteers from local labs and research institutions lead presentations, hands-on-activities, and laboratory tours and speak to students about pursuing scientific careers. I participated in this event for two years, and in 2019 I coordinated the Princeton AOS/GFDL exhibit. I and three volunteers designed several experiments to present, and were excited to see how enthusiastic and knowledgeable the young women we spoke with were.
Volunteering in Elizabeth, New Jersey
I volunteered for the nonprofit New Jersey-based organization Future City aimed at educating local communities about environmental issues, working with policy-makers and government agencies (including the Trash-Free Waters project of the EPA), and developing environmental initiatives. I participated in the City of Elizabeth Estuary Day and Environment Day where I performed lab experiments and discussed climate dynamics with groups of students from local schools. Additionally, I worked with summer interns at Future City during the summer of 2017 and had an interview with the city’s mayor to discuss environmental issues.
Plainsboro Public Library
I worked with the Plainsboro Public Library Youth Program to develop a workshop to teach elementary school students about the Arctic Ocean and its role in climate. The title of the program was “Motion in the Ocean: Our Oceans and You”. I presented hands-on experiments and spoke with students regarding their thoughts on climate science and a simplified summary of my research on Arctic dynamics.