Women in Science and Engineering
While an NSF Fellow at the University of Arizona, I was involved with the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Program. I developed astronomy curriculum for the Imagine Your STEM Future (IYSF) program and was a guest lecturer. I also gave a guest lecture as part of the Bio/Diversity Project on Translational Science Communication.
R. Levy as a guest lecturer for the Imagine Your STEM Future program. Photo by G. Perez.
GRAD-MAP
As a PhD student at the University of Maryland, I was involved with GRAD-MAP (Graduate Resources Advancing Diversity with Maryland Astronomy and Physics), which pairs undergraduates from historically black colleges and universities, minority serving institutions, and community colleges primarily from the mid-Atlantic region with a mentor in either the UMD astronomy or physics departments. During the winter break, these students attend a ten-day Winter Workshop, where they learn Python, work on a research project with their mentor(s), and learn information and resources to help them apply for graduate school. For four years, I served as a research mentor for a student. For the last three years, I developed the student’s project independently and also assisted with some of the professional development during the Winter Workshop. In the summer of 2019, I was a co-mentor for a student in GRAD-MAP’s ten-week Summer Scholars program.
The attendees and some organizers of the 2019 GRAD-MAP Winter Workshop at the Green Bank Observatory trip. Photo by P. Teuben.
Education and Public Outreach with NOIRLab
As an undergraduate at the University of Arizona, I worked in education and public outreach at NOIRLab (formerly NOAO) in Tucson, AZ as the lead student for two years. I ran programs for schools and classrooms, developed activities and materials, organized teacher workshops, published a monthly newsletter, wrote and recorded a bi-monthly podcast, coordinated the translation of materials, and ran a social media site. I was also one of the key developers for the UNESCO International Year of Light 2015 Quality Lighting Teaching Kit, which has been distributed to partner organizations worldwide. I was also a character in two installments of NOAO’s comic strip “Tales of the Modern Astronomer”, which have been featured at AAS conferences and on the covers of past NOAO Newsletters!
R. Levy posing in front of her cartoon likeness at the NOAO booth during the Tucson Festival of Books in 2015.