Broader Impacts
Throughout my journey as a Ph.D. candidate, I strive to leave an impact not just on the scientific community but also through teaching and educating others. I firmly believe in passing on the skills and knowledge I've acquired to educate and inform the next generation of geoscientists and environmental scientists.​
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Teaching is amazing for me as I love getting others excited and curious about new ideas but also because it's a learning experience for me as well. This provides an opportunity for me to better communicate ideas and thoughts more clearly and easily to others of varying knowledge backgrounds. I also understand from experience that having one teaching style is not suitable for everyone's learning patterns. I believe that it is important as a teacher to be able to be flexible and patient in educating others and I strive to break down difficult concepts into simpler and plain language through a variety of means (flipped classrooms, mobile office hours, more in class/hands on activities) while also incorporating DEI best practices to ensure any individual obtains the same learning outcomes.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Geoscience (AAPIiG)
As a member and mentor of the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Geosciences (AAPIiG) through the AAPI in Geosciences Inclusivity Leadership and Experience (AGILE) program, I had the opportunity to co-mentor 8 AAPI undergraduates in geoscience-related fields with Watsawan (Fai) Chanchai. We taught a professional development course that provided a knowledge platform for resume and CV building, technical and networking skills, and career outlooks in government, industry, and academia that complemented the research they were involved in over the summer. Most of these students presented their work at the Geological Society of America Connects or American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in 2023.
Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE)
Incorporation of DEI best practices
In each of the courses that I have taught regardless of the setting (traditional classroom, flipped classroom, in the lab, or in the field), my main goal is to ensure a safe working environment. I implement DEI best practices and techniques that fit the Unlearning Racism in Geoscience Education (URGE) in my teaching curriculum to ensure that any individual regardless of their race, age, sex, gender, culture, physical fitness, socio-economic status, or background knowledge is able to obtain the same learning outcomes.
As a colloquium committee chair (2023 - present) for the Penn State Geoscience Colloquium, I also use DEI best practices to ensure that our guest department speakers represent a range of employment professions (academia and workforce), career stages (early, mid, late career), disciplines (physical geology and biogeochemistry), home institutions, race, sex, gender, and hosted by faculty at different career stages.
Undergraduate Mentorship
I have and continue to mentor multiple undergraduate students here at Penn State. Most of the students I have been teaching and mentoring are students that are part of the NASA PA Space Grant Consortium - Women in Science and Engineering Research (WISER) or are doing their senior thesis. In either case, I aim to do the best I can in creating a safe and inclusive working environment and ignite the flame that inspires my mentees to enjoy and continue conducting research!
Here are links to some of the students I have mentored as well as their research:
Grace Druschel (2022 NASA WISER Program) - Penn State News Article
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Johnson (2023 NASA WISER Program) - Penn State News Article
Broader Community Outreach
I have had the opportunity to teach a curriculum about the geologic history of Pennsylvania and geologic processes like erosion, deposition, fossilization, glaciation, and sea level change. I have been teaching a short activity for our local elementary school students (State College Area School District) demonstrating how plate tectonics and glaciation influence sea level over geologic time of the North American continent and the controls on deposition and erosion through a stream table exercise.