Outreach activities
I volunteer time towards promoting and popularizing science and technology for children, young adults and among the general public through various events.
- Since the beginning of the covid pandemic, I've been doing outreach online:
- I created a podcast on the history of space exploration and astronomical discoveries.
- I host virtual planetarium sessions on Twitch.
- I made the gameshow like conversation bot (in French and in English) for the Mastodon social media
- I did a couple astronomy webinars interpreted into Farsi about how we measure distances in the Universe, and about why Pluto isn't a planet.
- I designed and delivered astronomy classes:
- Planète Sciences Occitanie: I trained the science facilitators in astronomy (course notes here).
- From 2017 to 2020, I taught a week-long astronomy course for intermediate amateur astronomers.
- I animated booths during outreach events for the general public:
- Trophées de la robotique: I staffed a stand where visitors could have a hands-on learning experience in programming and robotics.
- For the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the first moonwalk "On the Moon Again", I presented experiments on the phases of the Moon.
- During the Ciel en fête event, I ran a booth were children could build and launch a water rocket.
- Since 2016, I have held a star-gazing stand at the "Nuit des étoiles" every year.
- I gave in-person talks:
- The Rencontre des Jeunes Mathématiciennes à l'ENAC is a three day event where high school students get the opportunity to learn about math and science in an informal context. I gave a seminar on galaxies (slides here) and a visit of the planetarium to high-school students.
- For the ENAC astronomy club, I gave one talk on dark matter and another one on sismology.
- I provided scientific support for groups of elementary and middle school students:
- From 2016 to 2017, I provided educational support during the "Jeunes Talents Mathématiques", a summer camp for middle-school students.
- I accompanied a class for the Huitième Congrès Scientifique des Enfants .
- I also did outreach in a few other formats:
- Ciel en fête: I was the planetarium presenter for elementary school students.
- I was a member of the jury for the math tournament "Tournoi français des jeunes mathématiciens et mathématiciennes" in 2017.
- During the "Semaine de l'Europe 2018", I hosted a workshop on the satellite Sentinel 3 for elementary school students.
- I provided scientific advisory for the MMORPG Khaganat.
- I led guided tours of the Geneva Astronomical Observatory.