Outreach Activities
I am currently Co-Director of the University of Toronto AstroTours, a monthly outreach event including public talks, planetarium shows, telescope observing, and other astronomy activities and demos. Our monthly Tours have 100-200 attendees and our special events have up to 400 attendees. As Co-Director, I manage a team of 10 executives, arrange speakers for the public talks, and coordinate activities.
I was the Planetarium Manager for AstroTours between September 2015 and April 2017, organising monthly presenters for the planetarium shows and assisting presenters with show development.
In January 2017, I presented planetarium shows for a partnership between the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics for the Mystical Landscapes exhibit.
In September 2016, I appeared on a segment of Daily VICE, doing Solar observing with GZA from the Wu Tang Clan.
In January 2016, I joined Astronomy's Golden Age, an initiative led by Jielai Zhang and Pegah Salbi. I was the Promotions Lead for this project and presented planetarium shows about the contributions to science and astronomy during the Islamic Golden Age and their links to modern astronomy. We presented these shows at the University of Toronto planetarium, raising over $10 000 for Red Cross Canada's Syria Crisis Fund. In July, the group organised planetarium shows in Arabic for refugee newcomers in the Toronto area.
I also give planetarium shows for public and private groups (see A day — or millennium — in the life of a star) and volunteer my time and work to many different outreach activities organised by the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics and the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics. This includes a viewing party for the lunar eclipse in September 2015, sidewalk astronomy, and Astronomy on Tap.
In 2016 I was an Outreach Support Scientist with the Dunlap Institute, where I helped to develop planetarium show content. In 2011, I worked at the Centre of the Universe at NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics in Victoria. During my time here I gave planetarium shows, tours of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, and operated the Plaskett Telescope for public viewing.
Public Talks
Kepler's Story - University of Toronto AstroTours, March 7, 2019
Why Pluto Still Matters - Astronomy on Tap TO, August 17, 2018
Nature's Destructive Fury - Toronto Public Library Hillcrest, September 19, 2017
Nature, Destroyer of Worlds - University of Toronto AstroTours, March 2, 2017
Where did the Moon come from? - North York Astronomical Association, January 12, 2017