In 1995, the University of Michigan Department of Physics began sharing some of the latest ideas in the field with the public in the Saturday Morning Physics lecture series. Designed for general audiences, the lectures are an opportunity to hear physicists discuss their work in easy-to-understand, non-technical terms. The multimedia presentations include hands-on demonstrations of the principles discussed, along with slides, video, and computer simulations.
In October 2021, I gave a lecture on "The Physics of Music."
In February 2017, I gave a lecture on "The Antiups and Antidowns of Life: Studying Antiquarks in Hydrogen and Carbon."
In March 2013, I gave a Saturday Morning Physics talk on "Peering Into the Proton."
K-12 Outreach
In August 2020, I was an invited speaker at the STEM World Convention
for middle and high school students, organized by STEM Enrichment Youth, a high school student group initiated in California during the pandemic. My talk can be
viewed on YouTube.
Through the University of Michigan Community of Physicists for Inclusion and Equity (CoPhIE, formerly called
the Society for Women in Physics), I regularly participate in Physics Demo Day for the 8th
graders at Slauson Middle School in Ann Arbor, which brings in various hands-on physics demonstrations for the students to
engage in during their science hour that day.
In the past, through the U-M Society for Women in Physics I have also been a part of FEMMES Capstone Events bringing hundreds of 4th-6th
grade girls to campus twice a year for a series of demonstrations from across the sciences, and Girl Scout Physics Day, which brought about 25
middle-school-age girls from Girl Scout troops in the broader Ann Arbor area to the U-M campus for a Saturday for
demonstrations and hands-on experiments for several years in a row.
I also used to do a hands-on program teaching the physics of sound and music to second graders at Lawton
Elementary School in Ann Arbor.
Outreach to policymakers
I have visited Capitol Hill several times to inform Congressional offices about basic research in nuclear physics
and its benefits to the U.S. Here I am in December 2018 telling Michigan Senator Gary Peters about the
proposed Electron-Ion Collider.
