Outreach

    November 2018: Speaking with students at rural schools in Cordoba, Argentina

    I participated in various local and rural school outreach events during my time in Argentina for the RELAMPAGO field campaign. I spoke in Spanish to K-12 students about the instruments we used during the field campaign to observe the severe thunderstorms and hail in the region. It was a wonderful experience!

    June 2018: Invited speaker during the Bridge to Geosciences program at NCAR

    I was invited to give a seminar on the Boulder 2013 flood to students participating in the Bridge to the Geosciences program hosted at NCAR. In addition to my seminar, I provided guidance and answered questions students had while working on their projects.

    March 2018: Guest Speaker on Clouds and Precipitation

    I was a guest speaker for Mr. Houston's science class at a school in the South Kitsap School District of Seattle, OR. I gave two 20-30 min. presentations on cloud formation and types, and precipitation types and microphysical processes.

    Summer 2017: Undergraduate Leadership Workship panelist

    I volunteered as a panelist during NCAR's Undergraduate Leadership Workshop where I chatted with undergraduate students about my graudate school experiences.

    Summer 2017: SOARS Writing Mentor

    This summer I volunteered as a writing mentor for the Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (SOARS) program. Our student, Jeremiah Piersante from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, worked on developing a climatology of hail events over the Sierra de Cordoba region in Argentina. His work will help with ground observation placement during the RELAMPAGO field campaign in 2018.

    March 2017: Chelsea Elementary PTO Science Night, Chelsea, MI

    I organized and participated in the Chelsea Science Night, which is an event where students and families learn about science through hands-on activities. Our booth was called "What's that Smell?". Students played a game where they tried to determine what was inside of a cup using only their sense of smell. We then explained how molecules help us smell and determine what substance is making that smell. Students also got to create their own molecule out of marshmallows and pretzel sticks.

    July 2016: Atmospheric Science Expo at Casa de la Esperanza, Longmont, CO

    I organized an Atmospheric Science Expo at Casa de la Esperanza, a local community center dedicated to helping agricultural workers and their families. Our event had 17 students (ages 5-12) and we had hands-on activities teaching students about light, air, water, and rotation in our atmosphere. The children and volunteers all had a great time!

    June 2016: Pre-College Intern Program (PRECIP) mentor, Boulder, CO

    I volunteered as a PRECIP mentor for a high school student during my summer at NCAR. My intern, Christine Soh, worked on a research project exploring the effect of cloud droplet number concentration on orographic precipitation. PRECIP is a 6-week summer internship designed to provide research experience and engage high school students in STEM-related fields. This program provides professional development, such as writing and presentation skills, as well as helping students decide what to major in college.

    February 2016: Graduate School Q&A Panel Member, Ann Arbor, MI

    I volunteered as a panelist for a question and answer session about applying to graduate school for undergraduate students in the College of Engineering. This event was hosted by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) local chapter.

    October 2015: Ann Arbor STEAM at Northside Elementary School Visit, Ann Arbor, MI

    I visited a local elementary school alongside students and research scientists in the CLaSP department. I spoke to a 3rd grade class and answered their questions about floods and rain to aid them in their semester project on problem-solving flood impacts. I also taught kindergarteners how we measure the atmosphere way above us, using instruments attached to weather ballons or parachutes (radiosondes and dropsondes).

    February 2015: Volunteering at Chelsea Science Night, Chelsea, MI

    I had the opportunity to volunteer with a local "Science Night" where families came to learn about science through hands-on activities. I helped out with the "live animal show" where a speaker from the Leslie Science Center in Ann Arbor taught children about the food chain bringing a rabbit, python, and at the top of the food chain, a Barred Owl!

    Summer 2014: School is Cool Fundraising BBQ

    I volunteered during various School is Cool funraising BBQs organized by CSU's AAAR student chapter and the local AMS chapter (FORTCAST). The proceeds from the fundraising events were donated to the "School is Cool" program, which is a CSU based program that raises money to purchase school supplies and backpacks for K-12 students in the Poudre School District.

    June 2014: Weather Experiments at the Family Center

    I participated along with members of CSU's AAAR student chapter and the local AMS chapter (FORTCAST) in performing weather experiments for elementary school children during a summer camp at a local community center in Fort Collins, CO. We had three stations where we used hands-on experiments to explain the water cycle, how light interacts with the atmosphere, and molecules in the air.

    May 2014: Hail Pad Party

    Volunteered to help construct hail pads for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS). The hail pads constructed by volunteers are then mailed to members of the CoCoRaHS community to help them measure hail. CoCoRaHS continues to be the largest source of daily precipitation measurements in the country and those observations are used on a daily basis by hundreds of entities. Check out the CoCoRaHS website and consider becoming an observer! "Because every drop counts"

    April 2014: CSUnity

    CSUnity is an annual CSU event where student volunteers are matched with community projects as a way to cultivate community engagement and involvement. I volunteered as part of a larger group made up of members of the CSU AAAR student chapter.

    February 2014: Expanding Your Horizons Program

    I volunteered to lead a hands-on workshop for middle school girls alongside fellow CSU graduate students at the 9th annual Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) program at the CU Engineering Center in Boulder, CO. Around 300 girls attened the program, during which they had a unique opportunity to meet women in different professions and learn about their work. Our workshop, titled "Snow in the mountains, water in the fountains!", taught the girls about the water cycle, snowpack hydrology, water conservation, and how to read a rain gauge.

    November 2013: CSU Fall Clean-Up

    Fall Clean-Up is an annual community service event organized by student groups at Colorado State. I volunteered alongside fellow members of the student chapter of American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR). We helped rake leaves, pull-up weeds, and perform other landscaping services for elderly members of the community.

    October 2013: Super Science Saturday

    Our AAAR student chapter was invited to have a booth during the annual Super Science Saturday event at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, CO. Our booth, "See and Smell Atmospheric Chemistry", gave attendees the chance to build their own chemical compound while learning about where smells come from. They also had the chance to draw their own sunset and learn why the sky is blue and sunsets are orange/red. It was a great experience teaching children about atmospheric chemistry and creating fun and engaging activities!

    September 2013: Northern Colorado Maker Faire

    I partcipitated with NCAR's Spark group during the Northern Colorado Maker Faire. Attendees had the opportunity to design and test their own dropsonde in our portable wind tunnel. Dropsondes are meteorological instruments used to gather data on pressure, temperature, humidity, and winds. They are usually dropped from research aircraft and relay information via radio to ground stations as they fall through a storm.

    July 2013: AAAR Kreutzer Nature Trail Maintenance

    Fellow members of the AAAR student chapter at CSU traveled to the Kreutzer Nature Trail in the Lower Poudre Canyon in Colorado. We helped maintain the trail by clearing debris, cutting branches/brush, and cleaning water bars to make it safer for users.

    February 2013: Little Shop of Physics Open House

    Our AAAR student chapter had the opprotunity to have a session during the 2013 Little Shop of Physics Open House (LSOP). The session was titled "What's in the air?" and saught to teach attendees about the origin of particles in the atmosphere and their effects on visibility, health, and cloud formation with hands-on experiments and demonstrations. We also volunteered during the Center for Multiscale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes (CMMAP) session titled "Cloudy with a chance of...". During that session we helped make snow globes and teach attendees about precipitation and its measurement.

    November 2012: CSU Fall Clean-Up

    I volunteered to help rake leaves and clear debris/trash from the lawn of elderly members of the community alongside members of the AAAR student chapter.

    October 2012: Super Science Saturday

    I organized a group of volunteers from the Atmospheric Science Department at CSU to help with NCAR's Super Science Saturday event. I helped teach attendees about vortices at the UCAR Education and Outreach Booth.

    January 2012: Annual WeatherFest at AMS New Orleans

    I volunteered at UCAR's Education and Outreach booth during the annual WeatherFest event during the American Meteorological Society (AMS) annual meeting. We used hands-on experiments to explain pressure and cloud formation.

    July 2011: SOARS Summer Outreach Activity-Casa De La Esperanza