Founder and Director of POINT VR

In 2020 I founded the Physics Outreach and Instruction through New Technologies (POINT) project to use virtual reality (VR) to communicate physics concepts to middle and high school students. Since then this project has grown immensely, with upwards of 40 volunteer members and 1000 people reached. We have successfully developed two different VR simulations, published two papers (one in education research and one in computer visualization), and hosted demonstrations at local schools, summer camps, and other events for scientists and non-scientists alike. In my role as director of this organization I have mentored students, fostered interdisciplinary research collaborations, and given over 12 public talks. If you are interested in participating or using the resources we have developed, please see our webpage and send us an email!

• POINT VR on GitHub

I was featured in the UIUC physics magazine Condensate for this project. You can find that story here.

Letters to a Pre-Scientist

I volunteered as a pen-pal for this program, writing letters to a middle school student from a low-income school who would not otherwise have access to a scientist. The experience has fueled my drive to connect students with free resources, so that everyone has access to science.

WYSE Summer Camp

I designed lesson content for an educational session in a summer camp for high schoolers interested in engineering. I recruited volunteers to help run the session and answered questions about our demonstration. I did this in the summer of 2021, 2022, and 2023.

APS CUWiP LOC

I served on the local organizing committee for the APS Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics at UIUC. I helped to organize sessions, recruit speakers, and spoke on a panel about theoretical physics. I also spoke to attendees about using virtual reality as a tool to communicate physics.

Research Highlight

I wrote a brief description of my research for the UIUC physics department website and for sharing on social media. This article won the “People’s Choice award” in the spring 2024 research highlight writing competition. This is accessible to those with a background in physics who may not be experts in my sub-field.