One part astronaut, one part educator, one part manager, one part program coordinator: I manage the part-time staff who facilitate the majority of our simulated space missions and other STEM programs. I also create and run programs myself, and help teachers and community members figure out what program is right for them. As with most small organizations, "other duties as assigned" covers a lot of ground.

Based on my experience as an informal educator at the Saint Louis Science Center, I became a doctoral student in Science Education at Washington University in St. Louis, with the desire to better understand how informal science education can be leveraged to improve science literacy -- especially within groups that are traditionally underrepresented in science. The program required three full years of coursework, but provided a strong foundation in the social context of education (course examples: "The Political Economy of Urban Education"​, "Poverty and Inequality in America"​) as well as qualitative and quantitative research methods. At the same time, it required additional coursework in the natural sciences; for this, I sought out interdisciplinary courses such as, "Physics of the Brain"​, and "Energy and Environmental Physics"​. Research projects and independent studies enabled me to link science and education with topics such as pedagogical content knowledge, underserved students'​ access to informal science education, and children of immigrants' science identity development.Beginning my second year, I also served as a teaching assistant, grading, writing quizzes, meeting with students, and managing online content. Especially because we are often assigned to classes outside our areas of expertise, this requires fast learning, clear communication with the instructor, and a willingness to learn new content and new ways of conducting a course.

CERN, the European Center for Particle Physics, not only probes the fabric of the universe -- it then turns around and tries to explain these discoveries to the public. From creating educational materials for CERN’s public exhibit, to helping physicists flesh-out their own outreach side projects, to assisting with the practical logistical needs of the three-week High School Teachers Program, I was able learn how CERN approaches education.

More than just "a fun place to take the kids"​, the Saint Louis Science Center also serves as a hub for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) outreach education. As an informal educator, I developed and delivered fun, engaging science programming for schools, scout groups, summer camps, senior centers, professional development classes and community events, both at the Science Center and across the greater St. Louis region. Sometimes, as with new summer camps, this meant developing curricula from the "top down"​, starting with a general topic, then determining what we want students to learn, and finally developing the best way to teach that material. Other times, as with scout badge workshops, we had to work "bottom up"​, starting with the tasks and facts that were prescribed by others, and then tease out the important concepts that can link them all together into a cohesive program. Often, it meant taking existing programming, analyzing or predicting what worked well and what could be improved for a given audience/environment, and adjusting accordingly. During this time I trained several new educators and incorporated them into our collaborative model of program development, which combined the individual educators' strengths with the collective experience of the team.