Opportuni-tea & Cookies
As leadership turnover and declining engagement caused our department’s Equi-tea and Anti-racism Media groups to stall, I recognized their overlapping goals and consolidated their efforts and created Opportuni-tea & Cookies: A safe, welcoming environment akin to a journal club where students and faculty could meet regularly over some tea and cookies and learn about the many different facets each of us brings to our science. Working with other department members--graduate students, post docs, and faculty--I brainstormed different talks, updated the online presence, and coordinated each of the monthly sessions during the academic year. Under my leadership, our monthly department-wide meetings saw initial, rapid increases in engagement, especially among graduate students and postdocs, that has been sustained since 2024.
Education
Being able to distill the complexities of a topic and communicate them in a way anyone can understand is something I strive to do in my teaching and outreach. My experience began as a member and later president of Society of Physics Students (SPS) at the University of Minnesota. These efforts were recognized with multiple Outstanding Chapter Awards by the National SPS association. I have continued in this spirit with events like the Science Night hosted by the Parent Teachers Organization at Chelsea Elementary School in January, 2026. You can see me below demonstrating to onlookers how we can detect transiting exoplanets.
Food Justice
I believe it is fundamentally important for people to have access to healthful, nourishing food. With other leaders of the Food Justice Team in the Unitarian Universalist of Ann Arbor congregation, I have been working to promote equitable food systems and support the food and farm workers of Washtenaw County. Collectively, we have participated in congregational promotion of local food systems, local fundraising activites, and spurred volunteering with local food distributors. Plus, it has given me an outlet to share some fruits of my labor with folks!