BIO / OTHER INTERESTS

SHORT BIO / TEACHING BACKGROUND

Duane has been teaching or tutoring math and science since high school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts where he grew up amidst the beautiful Berkshire Mountains. Growing up in western Massachusetts afforded him with many clear, and beautifully dark, skies through which he could gaze upon the heavens and wonder about the complexities of the Universe. From an early age, he developed a love of astronomy aided by nights peering through his neighbor's telescope, and, later on, through his own. In high school, he pursued learning across a wide variety of subjects including participation in two biological summer internships at Williams and Bates Colleges and performances at All-State and All-Eastern concerts for bass vocals. He then attended college at Williams, graduating with an Honors degree for his senior thesis on "Quantify [quantum] Entanglement." While he only had a few opportunities to tutor, given his busy schedule of classes and extracurricular activities, Duane developed a sensitivity to individual circumstances and learning curves during his own academic struggles at the nation's perennial #1 college institution.

After graduating college and taking time off to sort out some family matters, he returned to school for his advance degrees in Astronomy. It was during his Masters program in Astronomy at Wesleyan University that he really started to grow as a teacher and tutor. At Wesleyan, he had mandatory teaching and tutoring responsibilities coupled with a willing, highly engaged, student body. He deemed it a wonderful experience that caused him to fall in love with teaching.

Since graduating from Wesleyan, Duane has continued to pursue both his love of astronomy and sharing knowledge in New York City, as he works towards his doctoral degree in Astronomy at Columbia University. He is strongly involved in public outreach initiatives like Columbia's astronomy public outreach lecture and stargazing nights, sidewalk astronomy in Harlem, middle school astronomy visits and his Rooftop Variables group which trains high school teachers how to operate telescopes and use some basic observational astronomy to run astronomy classes and clubs. As a result of his experience and core convictions, he takes learning very seriously and truly believes that most people are capable of being well educated and informed. He points to the success of his students and clients as proof over a decade of teaching.

In Duane's spare time, he enjoys watching and playing football (and most other sports), dancing, singing in karaoke competitions, and political discourse.

I've been interested in science since I was about 5-6 years old and I've been teaching or tutoring math and science since high school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts where he grew up amidst the beautiful Berkshire Mountains. Growing up in western Massachusetts afforded me with many clear, and beautifully dark, skies through which I could gaze upon the heavens and wonder about the complexities of the Universe. From an early age, I developed a love of astronomy aided by nights peering through my neighbor's telescope, and, later on, through my own (a gift from my father). In high school, I pursued learning across a wide variety of subjects including participation in two biological summer internships at Williams and Bates Colleges and performances at All-State and All-Eastern concerts for bass vocals. I then attended college at Williams, graduating with an Honors degree for my senior thesis on "Quantifying [quantum] Entanglement." While I only had a few opportunities to tutor/mentor, given my busy schedule of classes and extracurricular activities, I developed a sensitivity to individual circumstances and learning curves during my own academic struggles at the nation's perennial #1 college institution.

After graduating college and taking time off to deal with 'academic fatigue' and to sort out some family matters, I returned to school for my advanced degrees in Astronomy. It was during my Masters program in Astronomy at Wesleyan University that I really started to grow as a teacher and tutor. At Wesleyan, I had mandatory teaching and tutoring responsibilities coupled with a willing, highly engaged, student body. It a wonderful experience that caused me to fall in love with teaching.

After graduating from Wesleyan, I continued to pursue both my love of astronomy and sharing knowledge in New York City, as I worked towards my doctoral degree in Astronomy at Columbia University. There I was deeply involved in public outreach initiatives like Columbia's astronomy public outreach lecture and stargazing nights, sidewalk astronomy in Harlem, middle school astronomy visits and our Rooftop Variables group which trains high school teachers how to operate telescopes and use some basic observational astronomy to run astronomy classes and clubs. As a result of my experience and core convictions, I take learning very seriously and I truly believe that most people are capable of being well educated and informed. The success of my students and clients are proof of that over a decade span of teaching.

After receiving my Ph.D. in Astronomy from Columbia University, I started my first postdoc position in Shanghai, China. There I worked for two years on my further developing my statistical analysis and models of the Galactic halo chemical abundance ratio distributions and galactic chemical evolution of dwarf galaxies. During that time, I had the chance to see great advancements in the state of astronomy in China. I also had some fun side adventures in China, Vietnam, Japan, and S. Korea as well.

Recently, I moved back to the States to do my second postdoc at Vanderbilt University as a Fisk-Vanderbilt Bridge postdoctoral fellow. At Vandy, I have the wonderful responsibility to help mentor the next generation of future scientist of color in order to increase inclusion in the sciences. My plan for the next two years is to apply for faculty positions, primarily at small, research intensive, liberal arts colleges like my alma mater, Williams College.

Since 2006 I've been a member of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP).

In my spare time, I enjoy watching and playing football (and most other sports), dancing, singing karaoke, and political discourse.

OTHER INTERESTS

Here I've listed a few links to other things or causes I'm interested in beside astronomical research:

Inclusion in Science - http://mahalonottrash.blogspot.com/

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/

http://www.jbhe.com/

Citizen Science & Literacy - https://www.galaxyzoo.org/

https://fold.it/portal/

https://www.khanacademy.org/

Science in Governance - http://www.aaas.org/programs/programs

http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/spp/editors_choice.html