Teaching & Outreach

Astronomy on Tap Chicago on February 9, 2023; Credit: Madeline Wilson

I had extensive teaching and outreach experience since my graduate studies. During my Ph.D. at UC San Diego, I taught various classes with a total of 15 quarters of teaching experience, including the

  • Undergraduate stellar astrophysics (PHYS 5, PHYS 160),
  • Undergraduate stellar classical mechanics (PHYS 1A),
  • Undergraduate physics lab in classical mechanics (PHYS 2BL), and
  • Undergraduate physics lecture/lab in modern physics (PHYS 2D/2DL).
While this teaching has been a strong time commitment other than my research during my Ph.D., I feel accomplished and rewarded when students have learned during these classes because good teachers and mentors have been part of the reason for my academic and research journey.

From 2021 to 2022, I mentored three undergraduate students to curate a sample of ultracool dwarf wide binaries using Gaia eDR3 catalog by El-Badry. The result has been submitted to AAS Research Notes.
In 2019, I was awarded the Carol and George Lattimer Award for Graduate Excellence, for graduate students in the Division of Physical Sciences who seek interdisciplinary approaches to problem-solving and have a strong commitment to education, mentorship, and service.

I also participated in various outreach activities, including the

  • 2019 Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE) Professional Development Program (PDP) that provided a one-day Python workshop for transfer students from community college to UCLA,
  • 2017 IOA Science Innovation Camp Physics Outreach designed for Latin American high-school students,
  • 2019 The Barrio Logan Science & Art Expo aimed at promoting physics education and outreach toward Mexican families, and
  • Three consecutive years (2019-2021) of Python Workshop for Physics Undergraduate Students to help bridge the programming skills for transfer students from community college to UCSD.
Recently, I was invited to talk about my recent discovery of the shortest-period ultracool dwarf binary at Astronomy on Tap Chicago in February 2023.