Julia Kregenow, PhD

Senior Lecturer at Penn State University and author of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I Know Exactly What You Are

ABOUT JULIA KREGENOW, PHD

Julia Kregenow is an astronomer, educator, and author of astronomy books ranging from college textbooks to baby books. She loves sharing science and math with the world by bringing the wonder of the universe down to Earth for all ages. With a background in physics, biology, math, and music, Julia earned her MA and PhD in Astrophysics from the University of California at Berkeley. She is now an Associate Teaching Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Penn State University, where she works to improve how science is taught to non-scientists.
​Lauded for her enthusiastic and engaging teaching and speaking style, Julia has presented numerous workshops and seminars about teaching interactively, increasing teaching effectiveness, connecting with your audience, motivating students, and using research-based teaching methods to increase student learning. She also frequently gives astronomy and science outreach and informal education presentations to community groups of all ages, ranging from preschoolers to retirees. Whether it is pacing out a scale model of the solar system, or having the audience act out what causes the phases of the moon by holding up styrofoam balls and turning around in place, Julia’s presentations are always interactive and multi-sensory — full of animations, simulations, demos, audience participation, and even music.

TOPICS

• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I Know Exactly What You Are: Family singalong for mixed age groups, singing several different verses from her book of the same name, plus giving additional technical background information and visuals for each topic.
• ABCs of Space: For mixed age groups, reading some or all pages from her book of the same name, plus giving additional technical background information and visuals for each topic.
• Our Place In Space: An Introduction to the Universe, describing where we are in the universe in space and time. This presentation seeks to put into perspective where and when we are in the universe, using  lots of visuals and animations.
• Connecting with Your Students: A presentation to fellow astronomy educators, this lecture described and demonstrated a variety of research-based best practices for engaging with an audience and creating an interactive dynamic, even in a large lecture setting.
• Galaxies: A more technical presentation (but still geared toward non-scientists) describing what galaxies are, how they came to be, and how we study them. This presentation is chock full of animations and simulations about how stars move within galaxies. It was prepared for, and delivered to, a group of retirees who were interested in learning about astronomy.
• Cosmology, the Big Bang, and Dark Energy: A more technical presentation (but still geared toward non-scientists) describing the study of the universe as a whole (a.k.a. cosmology), how it began (the big bang), how it is changing with time, and if and how it might end. Like the previous, this presentation was created for a group of non-scientist retirees in summer 2018.

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