I recently became a Community Science Fellow with the American Geophysical Union's Thriving Earth Exchange. This program pairs volunteer scientists with community leaders to support community-driven priorities. Previously, as a volunteer scientist with the Thriving Earth Exchange, I worked with community leaders on a feasibility study for expanded renewable energy in Arlington, Virginia. Check out this blog post for more information on this project and community science.
Inspired by the AGU Thriving Earth Exchange, I co-founded the Actionable Community-Oriented Research eNgagement (ACORN) program within the UW Program on Climate Change. ACORN connects graduate students with community leaders to address community climate and environmental priorities. Launched in 2020, ACORN has supported seven completed and two ongoing community science projects. Contact ACORN leaders at pccacorn@uw.edu if your community is interested in launching an ACORN project!
The Program on Climate Change (PCC) at the University of Washington promotes interdisciplinary collaboration related to climate research and education. As a Graduate Steering Committee member, I launched the ACORN program, and helped coordinate public engagement events like our Spring Symposium and Climate Science on Tap: The Schooner Series, in which graduate students share their climate science at UW and at local breweries.
I co-led our department's graduate-undergraduate mentoring program, facilitating one-on-one mentoring and group events that built skills and community. These events ranged from a department-wide barbeque to a virtual undergraduate research panel aimed at making the research process more transparent and accessible.