teaching

I’m driven by a desire to make astronomy and statistics accessible, practical, and empowering. My own career was shaped by an early astro-statistics course that gave me the tools to succeed—and I aim to create similarly transformative experiences for my students. Whether preparing them for research or industry, my goal is to build their confidence with data, teach statistical thinking, and help them see themselves as capable scientists.

courses taught

• Research Topics in Astrophysics, UMass Amherst
  Fall 2023 – BSc level, 12 students, co-taught with Prof. Yun

• Nordic Optical Telescope Summer School, University of Copenhagen
  Summer 2021 – Grad level, 12 students, TA under Prof. Fynbo

• Applied Statistics: From Data to Results, University of Copenhagen
  Fall 2020 – Grad level, 160 students, senior TA under Prof. Petersen | webpage
  Fall 2019 – Grad level, 140 students, TA under Prof. Petersen | webpage

teaching awards

• Best Science Course at the University of Copenhagen, TA Team, Fall 2020

I’ve taught and mentored across a range of settings, from co-developing a senior undergraduate research course at UMass to teaching on Scandinavia’s largest graduate statistics course. I’m currently a co-mentor to three graduate students and have guided over a dozen student researchers since 2018 — see the group page for who they are and where they’ve gone. I also bring a decade of outreach experience, which has sharpened my ability to explain complex ideas clearly and connect with learners at all levels.

how people learn best

I believe people learn best by doing, not by watching. My own turning point wasn’t a textbook — it was a hands-on astro-statistics course that put real data in front of me and let me fail safely and try again, and I try to build that same experience for the people I teach. That means research-led exercises with real datasets and modern tools like Jupyter notebooks, fast feedback, and project-based work over lecture-and-listen. I also don’t think one format serves everyone: flipped classrooms and inclusive course design exist because students arrive with different backgrounds and different ways of getting unstuck, and I regularly gather student feedback to see where that’s not working and adjust.

understanding my mentees

This is a practice I actively maintain, not something I consider settled. As DEI undergraduate coordinator at the University of St Andrews, I co-authored our department’s Athena Swan equality and diversity submission — work that meant sitting down with students to hear directly how they experienced the department, rather than assuming I already knew. I carry that habit into mentoring now: regular one-on-one check-ins, actively asking for feedback instead of waiting for it, and staying alert to how a student’s background shapes what kind of support actually helps them, rather than defaulting to one mentoring style for everyone. A decade of public outreach has reinforced the same lesson from a different angle — explaining science well starts from where the other person is, not from where I am.