Educational Outreach
I am a strong supporter of community education and outreach and I have been practicing community outreach in some form since elementary school. Currently, I volunteer for several outreach events a year with the North Carolina Herpetological Society. Often these events are held at local parks and elementary schools. I have designed and presented herpetology curriculum at local schools and created an outdoor activity for preschoolers called frog twister. In a previous course, Ethics of Bio-technical Communication, I taught students how to perform educational outreach. Students then designed their own outreach material that they presented at the NC Science and Tech Expo. I also have mentored several undergraduate students who assisted me in designing and presenting a booth on mouse scent communication at the North Carolina Museum of Sciences, Brain Awareness Night.
Check out my latest events here
In addition to local outreach events and booths I also encourage and teach my students science communication tools. I teach my students the importance of communicating their science and I have had students design: artwork, podcasts, and videos to present their research and findings. The mouse illustration displayed is designed by a former undergraduate student, Brinda Bhaskar, for our local Brain Awareness Night. I myself have written a blog for Scientific American and have contributed to a piece on salamander fungus impacts for Reptiles magazine. To further my own science communication I have attended and then helped lead the NC Triangle Science Communication Expo. Finally, I am a member of Joe Palca's "Friends of Joe's Big Idea" that supports young scientists at becoming better science communicators.