Heidi White, our new Outreach Officer

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Dr. Heidi White as our new Outreach Officer. Heidi will be working with the iREx Education and Public Outreach team, as well as the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic team to create and maintain various activities and programs that allow us to share our passion for astrophysics and exoplanets with different audiences.

Originally from Chicago, Dr. White obtained a Ph.D. in Astrophysics in 2021 at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, specializing in cosmic star formation and galaxy kinematics. Throughout her academic career she has been dedicated to developing and progressing many initiatives related to science communication and education.

She is especially passionate about bringing astronomy learning to under-served populations in Canada and around the globe. Dr. White’s focus is on building educational content and activities that are adaptive, flexible and designed to engage and centre learners’ interests and needs. She is a co-founder and instructor of the Pan-African School for Emerging Astronomers, PASEA and has been on the team organising these events for ten years. She is also a core member of the Astrodigenous team, which has created an Indigenous Astronomy Portal that supports the work of Canadian educators who aim to build mindful inclusion of Indigenous Sky Knowledges in their teaching.

Dr. White also has extensive experience with a variety of media outlets. She is a science expert for TVOntario/TVOKids and has made many appearances on the CBC shows “Tai Asks Why” and “Quirks & Quarks”. She has also developed and given presentations in a variety of settings, including Astronomy on Tap events in Toronto, University of Toronto planetarium shows and other Dunlap Institute public outreach events.

Our team is delighted to welcome her to Montreal, and we look forward to the various projects she will lead with us!

To learn more about Heidi, you can see her page here.