Training and Experience

"Scientific discoveries mean nothing if they are not shared. Effective communication requires trust, mutual understanding, and dynamic two-way connections in which audience members help build meaning and find ways to engage with new or complex information. This program is offered in collaboration with the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, one of the nation's leading science communication training and research organizations in the country."  

In the certificate program, I have:

• Received hands-on skills training to combine my deep subject-matter knowledge with evidence-based communication practices

• Prepared myself to engage in audience-centered science communication that is meaningful, relatable and upholds scientific integrity

• Learned to share scientific discoveries in ways that resonate with diverse audiences

• Designed targeted messaging that responds to the needs, values, and cultures of an audience

• Supported diversity and inclusion through written and verbal communication

Floral Park-Bellerose School Class Visit / Guest Speaker

January 2025, Floral Park-Bellerose School District, Floral Park, NY

Activities included:

• Presenting to ~40 third and fourth grade students from the district gifted and talented program

• Mentoring and collaborating with a graduate peer

• Coordinating with teachers regarding learning materials and desired learning outcomes

• Assembling demonstrative tools that are age-appropriate and classroom safe 

Huntington High School Anthropology Class Visit / Guest Speaker

September 2024, Huntington High School, Bellport, NY

Activities included:

• Providing a Q&A session to ~5 local high school students

• Coordinating with teachers regarding learning materials and desired learning outcomes

Bellport High School Social Studies Class Visit / Guest Speaker

September 2024, Bellport High School, Bellport, NY

Activities included:

• Presenting to ~100 local high school freshmen about the "Paleolithic Era"

• Coordinating with teachers regarding learning materials and state curricula  

• Creating two group activities

• Answering questions about the nature of scientific research and challenges scientists face

Geek Talk / Guest Presenter

June 2024, UberGeek Brewery, Riverhead, NY

Activities included:

• Filming demonstrative videos  

• Establishing a supplemental information page on my personal website 

• Presenting to local patrons about my personal scientific research 

Science and Technology Entry Program: Intro to Biological Anthropology / Presenter

April  2023, Stony Brook, NY

Activities included:

• Delivering a lecture and activity module 

• Discoursing with high school students on human evolution and related topics

CommSciPaleo  Symposium / Symposium Participant

January 23 - 25, 2020, Perot Museum, Dallas, TX

Activities included:

• Training in storytelling, media exposure, and public engagement

• Executing a science communication project to the public in specific contexts

Scientist Is In / Scientist

October 1, 2019, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC

Activities included:

• Coordinating demonstrative tools 

• Informing and engaging with the museum visitors of the Human Origins Hall

Two Scientists Walk Into a Bar / Scientist

October 4, 2019, National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC

Activities  included:

• Speaking with local patrons about human evolution and related scientific research 

• Sharing my personal perspective on what it means to be a scientist