Some of my talks
Tour of the Night Sky
The night sky is full of stories, both historical and current. In this experience, I take your group out to a dark, clear area and we all look upward, exploring the constellations, the stars that compose them, the histories that connect them, and what it all means. We live under an exciting and vibrant sky, let me be the one to introduce it to you. This talk is perfect for small groups (camping trips, birthday parties) who want a unique one-on-one experience.
Marvels and Wonders
In this talk for an all ages audience, I explore the amazing coincidences in astronomy and the night sky, covering dark matter, the Big Bang, colorful stars, distant planets, and solar eclipses. Here, the audience finds out how special it really is to be a part of a changing planet in a diverse and unique solar system, surrounded by a gorgeous spiral galaxy among billions of other galaxies. This talk is ideal for large families.
Hunting for Monsters
My primary research involves searching for hidden supermassive black holes in the centers of distant galaxies. In this talk, I talk about black holes, both big and small, discussing what they are and how they work. I also talk about my my current work and other current cutting-edge research in exploring how black holes have evolved along with galaxies across cosmic time. This talk is designed for large groups of interested learners.
JWST: The Observatory That Is Changing Astronomy
In December of 2022, NASA, together with the European and Canadian Space Agencies, launched JWST, the next generation space telescope. I’m a member of the science team for the primary camera on board the observatory, and in this talk, I’ll share first-hand stories from the testing, launch, and deployment of the telescope from, and then describe how this observatory’s images are revolutionizing our understanding of the universe. This talk can be adapted for any audience.
Your Place In The Universe
The Big Bang seems very, very far away, and often we can feel profoundly tiny in the face of the history of our universe. But we shouldn't! We are the stewards of fourteen billion years of tiny events, starting from the beginning and leading to now, that have shaped our existence. In this humorous and inspirational talk, I discuss the history of our understanding of the Big Bang, and how the creation and continual evolution of the universe connects us to the stars. This talk is fantastic for business retreats.
Seven Billion Billion Billion
Astronomy provides a rich tapestry of metaphors that can apply to how we live our lives. In this talk, I discuss how the life cycles of stars can be used to help us in looking at each other, how the history of the constellations connects us to our ancestors, and how the light we see from stars can help us feel less isolated. At the same time as technology has connected us, we have lost our connection to the universe and the stars above us. Here, I try to bridge that connection again. This talk is perfect for small to large groups who want to balance their emotions with their rational sides.