Detection and characterisation of interesting exoplanet systems.
Mentoring.
I am committed to increasing diversity and support for under-represented minorities in our community, especially women in STEAM.
Here are some of the mentorship and community support efforts I am or have been involved in:
2024
December: Seminar speaker, Purdue University, Indiana IN
December: Colloquium speaker, Penn State University, University Park PA
October: Colloquium speaker, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW
October: Colloquium speaker, Yale University, New Haven CT
September: Seminar speaker, Carnegie EPL, Washington DC
September: Seminar speaker, Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton NJ
June: Invited speaker, International Space Science Institute at Beijing Exoplanet Forum, China
April: Verbrugge Lecturer, Carleton College, Northfield MN
March: Contributed talk, Extreme Solar Systems V, Christchurch NZ
March: Colloquium speaker, Washington University in St Louis, MO
February: Astrobiology Hour speaker, Penn State, State College PA
February: Colloquium speaker, CCA, New York NY
January: Invited speaker, Conferencing Successfully workshop at AAS243, New Orleans LA
2023
November: Colloquium speaker, UC San Diego, San Diego CA
October: Colloquium speaker, Cal State Long Beach, Long Beach CA
October: Seminar speaker, University of Kansas, Lawrence KS
September: Colloquium speaker, Sydney Institute for Astronomy, Sydney NSW
June: Invited speaker, Exoplanet Yield Modelling Tools Workshop
May: Invited speaker, New Horizons Science Team Meeting
March: Colloquium speaker, University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD
March: Seminar speaker, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba QLD
March: Colloquium speaker, SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
March: Invited speaker, First UVEX Community Workshop
February: Colloquium speaker, NRC Herzberg, UBC (Vancouver), Simon Fraser University
January: Plenary speaker, AAS241, Seattle WA
2022
September: Colloquium speaker, UT Arlington, Dallas TX
August: Speaker, AAVSO webinar series, Online
August: Invited speaker, NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars, College of the Desert CA
August: Keynote speaker, IAU XXXI General Assembly, Busan Korea
July: Invited speaker, Sagan Summer Workshop 2022, Pasadena CA
July: Plenary speaker, SPIE, Montreal Canada
May: Invited speaker, Exoplanets IV Conference, Las Vegas NV
March: Seminar speaker, UC Boulder Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder CO
March: Guest lecturer, University of Maryland, College Park MD
January: Seminar speaker, JHU Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel MD
2021
October: Speaker, Exoplanet Exploration Program Symposium, JPL, Pasadena CA
October: Speaker, Division of Planetary Sciences Meeting, Online
September: Seminar speaker, Princeton University, Princeton NJ
August: Invited speaker, NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars, College of the Desert CA
June: Invited speaker, CSST-Euclid-Roman Workshop, Online
May: Colloquium speaker, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA
May: Invited speaker, Warsaw University Astronomical Observatory, Poland
May: Invited panelist, Emerging Researchers in Exoplanet Science, Online
April: Invited speaker, Space Telescope Science Institute Exoplanet Symposium, Baltimore MD
March: Guest lecturer, Olin College, Needham MA
March: Colloquium speaker, The Ohio State University, Columbus OH
February: Colloquium speaker, Case-Western University, Cleveland OH
2020
December: Invited speaker, Earth 2.0 Workshop I, TDLI, China
December: Colloquium speaker, NOIRLab/Steward Observatory, Tuscon AZ
October: Colloquium speaker, University of Oxford, England
October: Colloquium speaker, Instituto de Astronomía, UNAM, Mexico
October: Colloquium speaker, Astronomical Society of Ireland, Ireland
October: Speaker, Exoplanet Exploration Program Symposium, JPL, Pasadena CA
August: Guest lecturer, Monash University, Melbourne Australia
August: Speaker, Greater IPAC Science Symposium, Pasadena CA
April: Colloquium speaker, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM
February: Colloquium speaker, University of Washington, Seattle WA
February: Speaker, NExSS seminar, Pasadena CA
January: Invited speaker, National Academy of Sciences 2020 Decadal Survey, Washington DC
2019
December: Keynote speaker, RTSRE Conference, Melbourne, Australia
October: Keynote speaker, dotAstronomy conference, Toronto, Canada
October: Colloquium speaker, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD
October: Speaker, Exoplanet Exploration Program Symposium, JPL, Pasadena CA
September: Guest lecturer, Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona CA
July: Invited speaker, Kavli Future of Exoplanet Research Symposium, Boston MA
July: Invited speaker, Moonshots and Earthshots, Green Bank WV
April: Colloquium speaker, Fermilab, Chicago IL
March: Colloquium speaker, Pomona College, Claremont CA
March: Invited speaker, Exoplanet Science Initiative Symposium, Pasadena CA
March: Invited speaker, Kepler & K2 Science Conference V, Glendale CA
March: Invited speaker, JPL, Pasadena CA
February: Invited speaker, TESS DATA Workshop, Baltimore MD
2017
December: Invited speaker, Franco-Australian Astrobiology and Exoplanet School, Canberra ACT
November: Colloquium speaker, Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena CA
October: Contributing speaker, Know Thy Star Know Thy Planet, Pasadena CA [PPTX Slides]
September: Invited speaker, ExSoCal 2017, Caltech CA
August: Invited speaker, Exoclipse 2017, Boise ID Exoplanet Occurrence Rates Using the Final Kepler Catalog [PPTX Slides]
June: Invited speaker, Society of Astronomical Sciences Annual Symposium, Ontario, NASA Wants You! How You Can Help NASA Discover Exoplanets [Video coming soon, PPTX Slides]
May: Invited speaker, Greater IPAC Science Symposium, Caltech, A Whole New World Mission [Partial video of musical number!, PPTX Slides,
PDF Slides]
April: Seminar speaker, UCLA, Caltech/IPAC and NASA GSFC, "Elusive Earths and Other Matters: Taking the Galactic Exoplanet Census"
January: Invited speaker, K2/TESS Special Session, AAS 229, Grapevine, "K2, TESS and The Future" [PPTX Slides,
PDF Slides]
2016
October: Invited speaker, Hotwiring the Transient Universe 5, Villanova University
July: Invited speaker, Sagan Exoplanet Summer Workshop 2016, Caltech, "Astrophysical and Instrumental Noise Sources: Transits" [Video,
PPTX Slides,
PDF Slides]
March: Colloquium speaker, Cal State Northridge, "Elusive Earths and Other Matters: Taking the Galactic Exoplanet Census"
2015
December: Invited speaker, 5th Australian Exoplanet Workshop, Sydney, "Kepler/K2, TESS, and opportunities for Australia" [PPT Slides,
PDF Slides]
July: Invited speaker, Sagan Exoplanet Summer Workshop 2015, Caltech, "Implications of Completeness in Transit Surveys" [Video]
I have appeared in one season and filmed for a second season of Science Channel's How the Universe Works. I talk about wild planets, our solar system, white dwarfs, how disasters shaped Earth, and the Voyager missions!
I appeared in eight episodes across two seasons of the Discovery Science channel program 'NASA's Unexplained Files', talking about
interesting planets discoveries. Click above for a short clip about Kepler-186f.
I joined the cast, writers and production crew of the Syfy show "The Expanse" in a live, recorded panel event at Caltech discussing
some of the fantastic science behind the show.
I was a panelist on the NASA Social TESS mission pre-launch briefing, setting the stage of the current exoplanet landscape to explain the need for a mission like TESS.
I filmed a segment with CBS News about our citizen science project, Exoplanet Explorers, and some of the amazing discoveries citizen scientists have been making.
I was featured in a video series called "Women of Discovery", produced by Active Galactic Videos out of Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona.
5,000 Exoplanets at the NASA Exoplanet Archive
In March, 2022, the NASA Exoplanet Archive reached 5,000 confirmed exoplanets! Here is a spectacular visualization of the milestone made by the folks at System Sounds.
Dinosaurs in SPAAAAAAAAACE coverage
Did you know that dinosaurs lived on the other side of the galaxy? Here's a short animation I made showing how the solar system orbits around the center of the galaxy, and where the Earth was when some of your favourite dinosaurs reigned!
The folks at System Sounds have created a beautiful visual and aural experience of our new exoplanet system. It is SO COOL.
Every time one of the planets passes between us and the star, it makes a note. The tone of the note (how high or low it is) is determined by the planet's orbital period.
It sounds so pretty because of the cool chain of resonances that these planets are in! Have a listen!
Here is a blog post I wrote for the Society of Women Engineers about the difference between outreach and reaching out, and the importance of considering accessibility issues in astronomy outreach.
Explore Exoplanets - The Discoverers
Caltech/IPAC has a new podcast/web series called Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers, and I am the host!!! Please check out my interviews with my esteemed colleagues who have discovered their own exoplanets - how they did it, how they felt, and what's next. We also talk about their favourite fictional planet, and I do a deep dive into the NASA Exoplanet Archive to find the closest real-world analogue!
During the covid pandemic, the Exoplanet Demographics conference that I organized movely fully virtual.
Wanting to exploit the format to explore some new, innovative outreach ideas, Heather Clitheroe and I
teamed up to produce "Heavy Metal Jupiters and Other Places", a daily zine during the conference comprising short stories, poetry, and art
inspired by the science results being presented that day.
Thank you so much to all the amazing contributors, and without further ado, please enjoy!!
Events
I love talking to the public about astronomy, our beautiful sky, and the exciting hunt for planets
outside out solar system. I am so lucky that I get the opportunity!
Here are some upcoming and recent events:
2025
January: Chesley Bonestell Memorial Lecture, Monterey CA
2024
December: Guest speaker, Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton, Princeton NJ
October: Guest speaker, New Jersey Astronomical Association, Glen Gardner PA
June: Panelist, 2024 Nebula Awards, Pasadena CA
June: Guest speaker, Mt Wilson Observatory, Pasadena CA
And, if you made it to the bottom of this page, enjoy a bonus picture of one of the highlights of my career, organizing a panel of amazing science fiction writers Becky Chambers, Simon Guerrier, Mary Robinette Kowal, and John Scalzi, emceed by the Bad Astronomer himself, Phil Plait!!
