Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Pamela L. Gay, an assistant research professor, takes citizen science to Australia in early October.
During a two-week trip, Gay will participate in a myriad of activities ranging from public events to teacher professional development to a policy round table. All of the events will allow her to showcase SIUE-led STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiatives, including the CosmoQuest virtual research facility and the Astronomy Cast podcast.
At the heart of the trip is the dedication of the new Burnell, Cannon and Leavitt (BCL) 27-inch telescope during the Sliding Spring Starfest and Open Day set for Oct. 3-5th. Gay will be giving the dedication speech for the new telescope as it will facilitate educators and amateur astronomers doing research.
Gay will also be joining an international slate of researchers and astronaut Andy Thomas to present a series aimed at both public and youth audiences. The event is at Siding Springs Observatory located outside Coonabarabran. More information can be found at starfest.org.au.
Following Starfest, Gay will travel to Melbourne for a week of speaking and educational events. The highlight is a Business and Higher Education Round Table hosted by Cisco Systems at Swinburne University of Technology on Wednesday, Oct. 8.
Round table participants include Gay, Professor Ian Chubb AC (chief scientist of Australia), Dr. Alan Finkel (Monash University chancellor) and Dr. Brian Fitzgerald (CEO, the Business and Higher Education Forum). They will focus on how Australia can leverage expertise from business, industry and universities to improve Australia’s Pipeline for the Digital Economy. Gay will discuss lessons learned through her work on inquiry-based learning in the SIUE STEM Center.
Additional Melbourne activities include youth talks at John Monash School of Science, Pascoe Vale Girls School and the Junior Chapter Astronomy Society of Victoria. Gay will also participate in a teacher professional development workshop at Melbourne Science Works and a public presentation at Swinburne.
The professional development workshop at Scienceworks will introduce teachers to planetary science using curriculum developed in the SIUE STEM Center by Gay and researchers Georgia Bracey and Nicole Gugliucci along with educators Kathy Costello and Ellen Reilly. More information can be found here.
While the bulk of Gay’s presentations will feature research and programs emerging from the SIUE STEM Center, she will focus on the achievements of women in astronomy and the problems that drive women from science when she visits Swinburne.
While science historically has had low female participation, Gay will analyze the problem from a perspective that women don’t have to be rare in the workplace. The CosmoQuest project, which Gay leads out of the SIUE STEM Center, is a collaboration dominated by female scientists across the entirety of the project.
Gay’s trip is made possible by iTelescope, Cisco Systems and Swinburne.
Photo: Pamela L. Gay, SIUE assistant research professor.