Science Communication
Highlights
The best science begins and ends with communication. My goal is to make science approachable to everyone and share my love of GIS and satellites with the world.
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Science on Tap
The New River Valley sponsors an event called "Science on Tap". This gives scientists the opportunity to speak to the public about their work in a fun and approachable way -- at a brewery! In the spring of 2024, I got to talk about how we use satellite imagery to observe river temperatures up and downstream from dams. I ended my presentation with a map puzzle activity to help people understand the importance of spatial resolution in imagery. Please reach out if you would like any tips and tricks for making map puzzles!
Kindergarten STEM Visits
During the Fall 2025 semester, my labmate (Hana Thurman) and I participated in a STEM outreach program organized by the Virginia Tech Center for Communicating Science. We met with 3 different kindergarten classes at an elementary school in Giles County, VA. Together we demonstrated how scientists use satellites to look at rivers. The kids learned that rivers come in all shapes and sizes. We even made our own rivers out of playdoh. Check out the activity handout I created for this visit here!
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Flip the Fair
In September of 2025, I participated in the 4th Annual "Flip the Fair" event hosted by Virginia Tech, Roanoke City Public Schools, and the Roanoke Public Library. This event flips a 'traditional' science fair on its head. Scientists created tri-fold science fair boards of their research and local 5th graders were the judges. An overview of this event was even featured on the local news! I showed the kids a 3D printed model of a Landsat satellite, samples of thermal imagery, and used a model dam to demonstrate how dams can alter downstream river temperatures.
Virginia Tech Science Festival
My labmates (Yohtaro Kobayashi and Steve Yoon) and I participated in VT's expo-style Science Festival in November 2025. We spent a full day talking to people of all ages about satellites, thermal imagery, and the role that large dams play in changing downstream river temperatures. Visitors voted for our presentation as one of the "prettiest posters" and we won the "Radical Results" award in the Flip the Fair section of this event.
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AGU TV Interview
During the Annual Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in 2023, I had the opportunity to sit down with AGU TV to talk about science communication. This highlights a conference session I co-convene -- "Thinking Outside the Boxplot: Communicating Science Beyond the Paper". My interview starts at the 14:37 minute mark.
Virginia Tech's Nutshell Games
Virginia Tech's Center for Communicating Science hosts an annual competition called the "Nutshell Games" which challenges graduate students to explain their research to a large audience in 90 seconds. This short TedTalk style of presentation is a unique task, challenging us to think about how we can quickly convey complex research topics without jargon.
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I was honored to be awarded one of the Top 5 Spots for the 2023 competition!