{"id":436,"date":"2020-07-03T12:14:16","date_gmt":"2020-07-03T16:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/smallstars\/?page_id=436"},"modified":"2026-01-29T15:39:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:39:59","slug":"education-and-public-outreach","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/smallstars\/education-and-public-outreach\/","title":{"rendered":"Education and Public Outreach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deaf-friendly Astronomy Events<\/h4>\n

Using funding provided by the National Science Foundation, low-mass star group members and collaborators frequently develop and participate in Deaf- and hard-of-hearing-friendly astronomy events. \u00a0With collaborator Jason Nordhaus (National Technical Institute for the Deaf\/RIT), former PhD-student Allison McCarthy (Trinity College Dublin), and Tom Rice (George Washington University, AAS), we developed programming for the 2024 total solar eclipse in Rochester, NY, and published our experience in the Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society:<\/p>\n

Rice, T., Wooten, A., Spiecker, B., Mbogo, B., Nordhaus, J., McCarthy, A., & Muirhead, P. “Including Deaf and Signing Audiences in Solar Eclipse Outreach and Astronomy Education”, 2024, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society,56, 2024.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Left to right: Tom Rice, Jason Nordhaus, Philip Muirhead and Allison McCarthy attempt to observe the eclipse through cloudy skies. NTID campus April 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Group members have also sponsored out reach events on BU’s campus for the Boston community:<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot
A screenshot from an Inclusive Astronomy newsletter showing pictures from a Deaf-friendly Astronomy Event at Boston University with Allison McCarthy, Tom Rice and Philip Muirhead pictured.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/h4>\n

Public Open Night at the Judson B. Coit Observatory<\/h4>\n

Group members frequently participate in the\u00a0Public Open Night at the Judson B. Coit Observatory<\/a> on BU’s campus every clear Wednesday night. \u00a0Due to occupancy limits, RSVP is required via EventBright<\/a>. \u00a0Information is regularly updated on the observatory twitter page here:\u00a0twitter.com\/buobservatory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Undergraduate Field Trips to Northern Arizona<\/h4>\n

Using funding provided by the National Science Foundation<\/a>, the Virginia Sapiro Undergraduate Enhancement Fund<\/a> and the Department of Astronomy, P. Muirhead has taken multiple groups of undergraduate students to Northern Arizona for observing on BU telescopes. \u00a0As part of the Core Curriculum CC 111 Course “Origins”, faculty from Earth & Environment and Biology also join to study geological features and the fossil record of the area.<\/p>\n

\"AS
AS 441 Students with the 4.3-meter Lowell Discovery Telescope near Happy Jack, AZ, Spring 2020.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"AS
AS 441 Students with BU’s 1.8-meter Perkins Telescope at Anderson Mesa Observatory, Spring 2020.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"CC
CC 111 students and faculty at Sunset Crater National Monument with the San Francisco Peaks (dormant volcano) in the background, Fall 2018. \u00a0Photo by P. Muirhead (far left standing). \u00a0Dr. A. Kurtz (BU Earth & Environment, far right standing) and Dr. R. Stevens (BU Core Curriculum and Biology, standing middle) also joined for the trip.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"CC
CC 111 students and faculty on the catwalk of the 42-inch Hall Telescope at Anderson Mesa Observatory, Fall 2017. \u00a0Photo by P. Muirhead (far right with BU Earth and Environment Prof. A Kurtz).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Art of Astrophysics<\/h4>\n

In the spring of 2016, with funding from the BU Arts Initiative<\/a> and the Department of Astronomy, P. Muirhead and former postdoc B. Croll organized\u00a0The Art of Astrophysics: A Competition for the BU Community<\/a>. \u00a0<\/em>We asked members of the BU, Boston (and international) community to create works of art that help us visualize our Universe and how we observe it. The competition included a gallery\u00a0showing in the Metcalf Ballroom of BU’s George Sherman Union featuring visual and\u00a0performance art.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Made
Made of Star Stuff<\/em> by former BU student Phoebe Horgan, which tied for first-place BU prize. \u00a0A purchased print of the piece currently hangs in the Department of Astronomy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deaf-friendly Astronomy Events Using funding provided by the National Science Foundation, low-mass star group members and collaborators frequently develop and participate in Deaf- and hard-of-hearing-friendly astronomy events. \u00a0With collaborator Jason Nordhaus (National Technical Institute for the Deaf\/RIT), former PhD-student Allison McCarthy (Trinity College Dublin), and Tom Rice (George Washington University, AAS), we developed programming for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7725,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/no-sidebars.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/smallstars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/436"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/smallstars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/smallstars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/smallstars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7725"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/smallstars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/smallstars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":667,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/smallstars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/436\/revisions\/667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/smallstars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}