Rachel Wolf recently finished her PhD in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focused on observational cosmology with Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia); a special type of thermonuclear explosion that cosmologists can use to study how cosmic distance changes over time. Her research interests were in two particular fields of SN Ia cosmology: 1) studying correlations between SN Ia properties and properties of their host galaxies and 2) developing new statistical methods to use SN Ia data to infer cosmological parameters. Throughout her graduate school career, Rachel was a participant in the Dark Energy Survey (DES), an international collaboration of 400+ scientists using multiple probes to study the evolution of the cosmos.

“I believe this work will demonstrate the need for greater cultural and financial support for science communication training and public engagement programming amongst science collaborations and funding agencies.”

During the latter parts of her PhD, Rachel also became interested in science communication research and studying how scientists, particularly members of DES, communicate and interact with the public. An examination of the online initiatives of the DES Education & Public Outreach (EPO) program was also a part of her PhD thesis. She is also currently leading two analyses focused on improving scientists’ involvement in public engagement. Together with others in the DES EPO community, she is studying the ways in which DES scientists are participating in public engagement and motives for/deterrents from such engagement. She believes this work will demonstrate the need for greater cultural and financial support for science communication training and public engagement programming amongst science collaborations and funding agencies.

Currently, Rachel is a Social Science Research Professional with Stanford University’s AAALab. The lab focuses on developing pedagogy, learning technologies, and assessments that prepare students for learning inside and outside the classroom. Rachel is very excited to be using her quantitative science skills for education research and to inspire enthusiasm about STEM.

What outreach experiences did you have in graduate school?

I should probably begin my answer by mentioning that when I started graduate school, I knew I wanted EPO to be a significant component of my scientific career. Within the first few months of meeting my advisor, I had a chat with him explaining how I was passionate about EPO and wanted to balance time spent on research with time doing EPO. Of course, research came first, but he was always supportive of all of my EPO endeavors. I am so incredibly grateful for his support and cannot emphasize enough how important I think it is for graduate students to be proactive about having these kinds of conversations with their advisors early on in their careers.

One of the first programs I got involved in during graduate school was with the University of Pennsylvania’s TRiO Veterans Upward Bound (VUB) program. Together with a few others in my cohort, we started a math boot camp for the VUB students and volunteered to organize and lead Saturday tutoring sessions for those students who could not attend tutoring during the week. I volunteered as a tutor during the entirety of graduate school, and worked with the VUB organizers and my colleagues to develop a more permanent tutoring partnership between VUB and the Physics & Astronomy department.

About halfway through my PhD, I became one of the co-coordinators of EPO for DES. As a DES EPO coordinator, I designed, managed, and participated in innovative projects that connect scientists and nonscientists through social media initiatives, blog posts, and written summaries of DES science results. I also served as an informal consultant for future EPO efforts for large-scale surveys such as DESI and LSST.

Throughout graduate school, I was also was fairly involved with The Franklin Institute (TFI), Philadelphia’s premier science museum. I served as a volunteer scientist for many museum programs, including: the Philadelphia Science Festival, Science After Hours, and Night Skies at the Observatory. One of the projects I most enjoyed is the “Meet A Scientist” initiative - a partnership I began with TFI. In this informal education space, I collaborated with TFI’s Summer Camp staff to develop inquiry-based activities for third-ninth grade campers across a variety of STEM disciplines. I hope that campers will leave camp learning how to ask questions, how to communicate their curiosity, and feeling that they too could become professional learners.

At Penn, I was also active in Penn’s Physics & Astronomy department’s outreach group and worked closely with Penn’s Science Outreach Initiative. I also participated in Active Learning TA training through Penn’s Center for Teaching and Learning.

What attracted you to Education and Public Outreach (EPO)?

To be honest, I’ve loved teaching for as long as I can remember. I tutored all throughout high school and was involved in a variety of EPO activities in college. I think my passion for EPO is primarily driven by the first-hand experiences I’ve had seeing how my personal experience can change the experience and perspective of others, particularly children. Also, as a woman in science who enjoys communication and engaging with others, I feel like I am in a unique position to really affect positive change.

As an example, when I was in college, I worked at the Griffith Observatory as a museum guide. Part of my job was to stand in front of permanent exhibits and give large talks / chat with the public about them.

One day, a father and his daughter were listening to my spiel about the sun and solar observing. After my talk, they came up to me. The father had lots of great questions and wanted to continue chatting; his daughter, who was maybe 8 years old, seemed timid and was more focused on exploring the rest of the exhibit. She didn’t say much, but seemed very interested in the museum and learning more about astronomy. After ten minutes or so of chatting, the father and his daughter continued on through the rest of the observatory.

A couple hours later, the father found me again. He pulled me aside and said, “I know my daughter is a bit shy. But I want you to know that after your talk and our conversation, she told me, ‘Daddy, if that girl can be a scientist, then I can too.’ Thank you.”

We chatted for a little more, this time the daughter was more bubbly and engaged, and then the two of them left the museum.

I was on Cloud 9 for about a week. It’s moments like this that have shown me the importance of EPO and just how much scientists can make a difference, even if it’s just one inquisitive 8-year-old at a time.

How/when did you decide to dedicate your career to EPO full-time?

While I was in college, I realized just how much I enjoyed EPO. I had always loved teaching, but found a new passion in communicating science in more informal settings. The summer after my second year of college, I applied for a job at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. I loved working at a science museum and getting to chat about astronomy with the general public. My favorite part of the job was working with kids, and seeing their eyes light up when I told them new facts about the universe. Kids also just have the best questions! I wanted to explore other means of science communication and so the summer after my third year of college I interned with Discovery Communications.

When I was finishing my time at UCLA, I was conflicted about my path forward. Many of my friends were going to graduate school, but I had this passion for science education and communication that I didn’t think would be sated in the typical astrophysics career path. I knew I wanted to pursue EPO as a career, but I just wasn’t sure how to do it.

I spoke with many people to get different perspectives (including Neil deGrasse Tyson!), and most people recommended I pursue my PhD. They argued that I would not be taken seriously as a science communicator without my PhD, and so they said that if I was at all interested in graduate school, that I should go for it. At the same time, many of these people warned me that I might be overqualified for EPO jobs after my PhD. They said it was a fine line to balance and one I’d have to navigate once I finished grad school.

When I started grad school, I knew I wanted to pursue a career somehow related to EPO afterwards. I was very upfront with my advisor about it from the beginning, and gave him updates on research (and EPO career ideas and pursuits) along the way.

When I finished my PhD, it was just a matter of finding the right EPO job. I applied for a pretty wide variety of positions, from museum staff to K-12 STEM curriculum development to data science for education technology companies to education research.

What is your favorite part about having a full-time career in EPO?

A large part of my job is designing assessments to determine student knowledge and learning transfer. This includes learning across STEM disciplines, so I need to be able to design problems that cover topics from chemistry to biology to physics. This means I’m reading papers and doing research in a variety of disciplines – and I love it! For one project I’m currently working on, I’ve read papers about polar bears, sea otters, and monarch butterflies. We also have seminars featuring speakers in education, psychology, neuroscience, learning science, etc., and I am constantly fascinated by the myriad of perspectives and techniques used for education research. The interdisciplinary nature of my work appeals to my love of learning and natural curiosity in a way that is very different from how I connected with my astrophysics research.

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced with assessing EPO?

I think the biggest challenge for me right now is to familiarize myself with all of the literature. There is amazing work being done in learning science, education, and science communication research, and I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. Assessment of EPO programming is essential, but I don’t think anyone has figured out the “right” way to do it (or even if there is a “right” way). For example, as social media becomes a more prevalent medium of communication, we’ll have to figure out useful metrics to determine if social media projects are making an impact.

I think another challenge is clearly identifying what you hope your audience gets out of their EPO experience. It’s really difficult to create a good assessment if you’re interested in learning about content comprehension, disposition changes, and future impact.

As a member, what do you find to be the most beneficial part of the APS Forum on Outreach and Engaging the Public (FOEP)?

I think making connections and networking is a crucial part of engaging in EPO. In fact, I’m still reaching out to others in the EPO community to learn more about different EPO positions, build my EPO network, and discuss potential collaborations and partnerships. The FOEP offers an amazing opportunity for those interested in EPO, at all career stages, to communicate and learn from each other. I think the only way to continue developing impactful EPO programs and to improve upon existing programs is to share best practices, research, and experience. Be proactive! You never know who you’ll get the chance to meet!