Celebrating the Education Committee Members and Soliciting New Volunteers

Welcome to the AAS Education Committee Blog! Our blog features posts from astronomers and educators in the extended AAS community, curated by the AAS Education Committee. Subscribe here to receive future posts and other astronomy education news directly into your inbox every two weeks; also follow us on Bluesky, Instagram, and Twitter. We welcome guest article submissions! — AAS Education Committee.

As co-chairs of the AAS Education Committee, we want to publicly thank all of the current committee members and let you know about the amazing work that is ongoing by this mighty set of volunteers. The AAS Education Committee, which is charged with the oversight of the educational activities of the AAS, is made up of 16 members from across the Society who have an interest and expertise in education, outreach, public engagement, and communication. As the mission of the AAS is “to enhance and share humanity's scientific understanding of the universe as a diverse and inclusive astronomical community,” the Education Committee thus serves a vital role in guiding the impact of the Society. Members of the committee bring their experience and network to support the whole Society’s activities in astronomy education — from public outreach, through introductory astronomy, to the training of future astronomers.

The Education Committee has four topical subcommittees, reflecting the breadth of astronomy education modalities that AAS members undertake. These subcommittees are:

1. Public Outreach, Community Engagement, and Informal Education
2. Introductory Astronomy in Formal Education (K-12 and College Gen Ed)
3. Undergraduate Major and Graduate Astrophysics Education
4. Preparation for Careers Beyond Academia

Each committee member serves on one of the subcommittees. The subcommittees provide topic-specialized advice and guidance to the Education Committee so that the Education Committee can advise the AAS Board of Trustees on how to direct the AAS to support astronomy education.

We’re looking for new members to join in 2025 — if you might be interested in joining the committee as a full member (~10 hours/month) or as a subcommittee affiliate (2–5 hours/month), we’d love to hear from you! Please express your interest at this form:

Express interest in joining the Education Committee!

We are especially thankful for committee members Michael Foley, Meredith MacGregor, and Colin Wallace, who are completing their terms this year. Thank you so much for everything you have done!

Current Committee Members (alphabetical order by last name)

Tania Anderson

2021–2026
Education Committee Co-Chair
Subcommittee #1

Tania has been part of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Maryland for over 26 years. In 2005, she founded the Youth for Astronomy & Engineering Program, which became institutionalized as one of the STEM local initiative programs at STScI for 20 years. She is also on the advisory board of the North American Regional Office of Astronomy for Development. Her passion and experience are grounded in public and community outreach and engagement.

Sanlyn Buxner 

2020–2025
Education Committee Co-Chair
Subcommittee #1

Sanlyn is a Senior Research Scientist and Senior Education and Communication Specialist at the Planetary Science Institute and a Research Professor of Science Education at the University of Arizona. She has been a member of the AAS Education Committee since 2020. She has served as the lead editor for the Celebrating the Wonder of Science in the Shadow (Bulletin of the AAS) special issues and serves on the education committee of the AAS Division for Planetary Sciences.

Mallory Conlon

2024–2027
Subcommittee #4

Mallory is an outreach astronomer at Yerkes Observatory. She leads the development of large-scale outreach events, the K-12 school visit program, and undergraduate internships at Yerkes. She is a member of the EPD Mini-Grant Working Group and the subcommittee on Preparation for Careers Beyond Academia, and she has also helped support the Chambliss student poster competition.

Carl Ferkinhoff

2020–2026
Subcommittee #3

Carl is an Associate Professor of Physics at Winona State University. He has been an organizer of Nerd Nite Winona since 2018. Recently, he has started working with a group to establish a maker space in Winona. He leads the Science Teacher program at Winona State and is chair of the Teacher Education Assembly. His research includes studies of high-z galaxies using far-IR fine-structure lines and also submm and IR instrumentation. He has led the AAS EPD Working Group.

Michael Foley 

2022–2025
Subcommittee #3

Michael is a postdoctoral fellow in climate science at Harvard University. He is an author for Astrobites, an organizer for ComSciCon, and a WorldWide Telescope Ambassador. He is passionate about improving undergraduate and graduate education in astronomy. He has worked to provide guides for graduate students.

Katherine B. Follette 

Mar 2020–Mar 2026
Subcommittee #3 Chair

Kate is an Associate Professor at Amherst College's Department of Physics and Astronomy. She conducts research in high-contrast imaging of exoplanets and circumstellar disks and STEM education and is the PI of the Quantitative Reasoning for College Science study. She was also the chair of the AAS Early Career Engagement Task Force. As a member of the Education Committee, she is primarily interested in improving the experience of early career astronomers, especially undergraduates.

Rica Sirbaugh French 

2024–Mar 2027
Subcommittee #4

Rica is a Professor of Astronomy & Physics at MiraCosta College and the Associate Director for the Center for Astronomy Education. She is also a member of the AAS Committee on Employment and a current Agent. She is a past participant in Congressional Visits Day, a former career advisor, a former member of the Astronomy Education Board, and an Advisory Group member of the NASA Community College Network, liaising between CC instructors, subject matter experts, and the NCCN team. She is a frequent panelist at Star Trek conventions, doing “Astro 101” and other outreach sessions for both Creation Entertainment and Roddenberry Entertainment.

Charles John Law 

2024–Mar 2027
Subcommittee #1 Chair

Charles is an NHFP Sagan Fellow at the University of Virginia and works on radio/sub-mm astronomy, studying the chemistry of protoplanetary disks and planet formation. He serves as a subject matter expert for the NASA Community College Network, a writer for Astrobites, and as an ALMA Ambassador. He is a co-organizer and mentor for the AMP-UP Postdoctoral Mentoring Program.

Meredith A. MacGregor 

2022–2025
Subcommittee #3

Meredith has been part of the Johns Hopkins University Department of Physics and Astronomy since 2023. She is the Deputy PI for the Far-Infrared Spectroscopic Space Telescope and PI for the Early Star and Planet Evolution Explorer. She was awarded the Bok Prize Lectureship from Harvard University in 2023 and was a Scialog Fellow from 2020–2023. Meredith serves on the AAS Task Force for Graduate Admissions. Currently, she is also the Co-Chair of the NASA Infrared Science and Technology Integration Group and the Next Generation Great Observatories Science Analysis Group.

Jameeka Marshall

2024–2027
Subcommittee #1 

Jameeka is a science communicator with a decade of experience in community engagement. She works remotely from Hilo, Hawai‘i, for the University of California Santa Cruz as the Shadow the Scientists Programs Manager. She also works with a group of amateur and professional astronomers providing support observations for NASA’s Lucy Mission.

Rachel Lee McClure 

2024–2027
Subcommittee #2 

Rachel is a UW Madison Astronomy PhD Candidate beginning as faculty at Weber State University in Fall 2025. Her research focuses on galaxy evolution and stellar bars, and she is passionate about formative assessment practices. She is part of the AAS Education Blog team and is the co-manager of the AAS Education Committee social accounts.

Kate Meredith 

2020–2026
Subcommittee #4 Chair

Kate is the Founder and President of GLAS Education in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. GLAS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to community engagement in STEM and disability access in STEM education, outreach, and career development. She is working to support astronomy faculty with resources to address the issues related to employment for the increasing number of undergraduate students attaining degrees in astronomy.

Justine Schaen

2024 –Mar 2027
Subcommittee #2

Justine is an astronomy education specialist for NSF’s NOIRLab. Her background is in earth science and education. She has been a middle school science teacher for 10 years and served as a practicum teacher for college students interested in science education. She has many years of experience coaching high school athletics, along with leading Science Olympiad and Destination Imagination teams. Justine is part of the Education Committee Communications Working Group and co-manages the social media account.

Joshua P. Tan

2024–Mar 2027
Subcommittee #2 Chair

Josh is an Associate Professor at LaGuardia Community College, part of City University of New York (CUNY). He is the Secretary of CUNYAstro. He is also a Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History, an Onboarding Coordinator for the CUNY Graduate Center MS in Astrophysics Program (partnered with Simon’s Foundation), and an Astronomy Administrator at MyOpenMath (free to use, develop OER Online Homework and Assessment Learning Management System). He is a co-author of the OER Intro Astrobiology Text.

Waylon Troyer 

2024–Mar 2027
Subcommittee #1

Waylon is the Director of the Love’s Planetarium at Science Museum Oklahoma. He also serves as the Event Supervisor for Astronomy (high school) and Solar System (middle school) events at the Oklahoma Science Olympiad and as the Merit Badge Counselor for Scouts BSA and Girl Scouts of America. He focuses on providing authentic, informal astronomy experiences to his community. Outside of the dome, he does a lot of impromptu observations around the city and in his neighborhood.

Colin Wallace

2022–2025
Subcommittee #2

Colin is a Teaching Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a co-author of the Lecture-Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy (4th edition). He conducts physics and astronomy education research (see publications on Google Scholar) and is one of a rotating pool of presenters for the APS/AAPT/AAS Faculty Teaching Institute. He is also the Director of UNC Summer Institute for College Teaching.