Meet our Astronomy Educators!

When you’re not looking at the stars, what other hobbies or interests do you fill your time with?

I speedsolve Rubik’s cubes, make contraptions like weather balloons and 3D printed things, and play the organ.

What advice would you give someone interested in learning more about astronomy? 

Read a lot of books about it! You can read a lot online too but you have to learn how to distinguish reputable sources from not-so-reputable ones. Typically if something was written by an expert it’s good information, and anything written by someone not directly involved in the field tends to have lots of misconceptions accidentally mixed in with the good information.

If you could travel anywhere in the universe, where would you go and why?

The universe includes space AND time, and I would like to travel to the ancient Earth, hundreds of millions of years ago. I would like to visit the Ordovician period to see the trilobites and radiodonts that lived here in Minnesota, and find out if there really was a ring around Earth. I would bring a telescope to see what the Moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn looked like too.

Why do you think it’s valuable for people to care about astronomy?

Learning about space makes us feel very big and small at the same time — small because space shows us the Earth and ourselves as a tiny inconsequential speck, and big because the story of Earth and the atoms that make up our bodies is intricately tied to these giant processes connecting the whole universe. I think knowing all this stuff isn’t just a fun way to pass the time, it might help us realize that Earth is too small for us not to work together.

How did you become interested in astronomy? 

When I took an Introduction to Astronomy course and liked it so much I decided to minor in Astronomy.

What’s something you love about your job? 

There are two things that never get old. I love how awe-struck people get when you first show them the night sky in the planetarium. I also love getting kids excited about science and watching their faces light-up with enthusiasm.

When you’re not looking at the stars, what other hobbies or interests do you fill your time with? 

I love dancing, which I have been doing since I was three, and I am currently taking a ballet class. I also love doing crafts and collecting rocks.

What advice would you give someone interested in learning more about astronomy? 

If you are interested in learning more about observing the actual night sky, especially if you want to learn about using telescopes and binoculars to observe, I highly recommend getting in touch with your local astronomy club. Groups like the Minnesota Astronomical Society and the Arrowhead Astronomical Society are for amateur astronomers and they are very welcoming to newcomers and can teach you and give you hands-on experience with telescopes and observing.

If you could design your dream planetarium show, what would it be about? 

Light! Light is my favorite science topic and I would love to do a planetarium show about all of the amazing things that we can learn about galaxies, stars, planets, and exoplanets, just by looking at the light coming from them. 

What is something that, no matter how many times you think about it, still amazes you about the cosmic universe? 

The sheer number of galaxies, stars and planets in the universe. Totally mind-boggling!

What’s something you love about your job?

I always get the most wonderful questions from guests. Some are really insightful, some are beyond my knowledge, and some are just really silly! It’s a very special feeling being able to navigate communication with a stranger to figure out what they want to learn and how I can help point them towards an answer.

When you’re not looking at the stars, what other hobbies or interests do you fill your time with?

I have so many interests it makes it a bit hard to answer this question! Most of my time these days is spent in my two jobs or with an anatomy course I’m currently taking, but name a hobby and there’s a pretty good chance I’ve tried it. I do fiber arts like weaving, knitting, and sewing. I love testing natural dyes on wool yarn and seeing the array of colors I can coax out of the world around me. I also garden veggies and native perennials, and recently have gotten into mushroom cultivation. Coming into the winter, I am excited to get back into ice skating and try to learn some jumps.

If you could design your dream planetarium show, what would it be about?

A show all about light and color would be great. I’d also really love to make a show that had something to do with the history and sociology of astronomy as a science. Or one all about the greenhouse effect in different places in the solar system. Or on plate tectonics. Too many possibilities to choose!

Why do you think it’s valuable for people to care about astronomy?

I don’t think that everyone needs to care about astronomy — we are all humans with complex lives and interests. But I do think that astronomy can teach us a lot about how the universe works and give us a valuable perspective on what our place is within it. I find people connect with astronomy on a very personal level that ignites curiosity and self-reflection.

Apart from life lessons though, Earth is a planet in space. This is our home. If we want to care for our own planet, it is best we know its history and how it functions. Space science can be a tool for figuring that all out, and all the branches of science lean on and support each other.