Much of the livelihood (read: funding for research) for physists and astronomers comes directly or indirectly from taxpayer money; thus it is our duty to give back to the community. Some of the ways I try to do this are listed below:
I have given numerous public guest lectures on a variety of themes, including a presentation on "Astronomical Fireworks" at Wallops Island and the Delmarva Space Sciences Foundation's innagural "Astronomy on Tap" event. If you'd like to have me as a guest speaker, please e-mail me at least three weeks before the event.
In graduate school, I was part of a wonderful program called Dark Skies Bright Kids which would offer after-school clubs at local elementary schools, and, more recently, summer camps in more far-flung locations in Virginia, including the Eastern Shore. I am happy to bring these types of hands-on activities to classrooms in the area. If you are a local educator, and want an astronomer to come visit your classroom, just send me an e-mail, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
I partnered with the Wicomico Public Library to host a viewing party for the August 2017 Solar Eclipse where we distributed nearly 1000 eclipse glasses and facilitated the safe viewing of the eclipse through solar telescopes. I have also have expience planning community star parties through the aformentioned Dark Skies Bright Kids. If you are interested in hosting a similar observing event or some other astronomy-themed public program, send me an e-mail and we can see what we can do together!
Thinking about buying a telescope for someone or just received one as a gift, but don't have any idea where to start? Are you a teacher looking to incorporate some telescope observing into your lessons? Send me an e-mail with your request, and we can try to set something up and/or put you in contact with a local amateur astronomy club who would be happy to show you the ropes.
I serve on the Henson Research and Faculty Development commitee, so If you have questions about student research grants or faculty travel grants, feel free to contact me.