@jradavenport@mastodon.social
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

jradavenport

@jradavenport@mastodon.social

Professor of astronomy & coffee. Maker of data & science things. Year round flannel in the PNW. Studying stars, looking for aliens. All opinions are my own.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

jradavenport, to Astro
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

Today in my Astro Sci-Comm class we tried something new: we watched clips of 4 astronomers, & discussed the wildly different speaking/presenting styles. Of course I chose these to be VERY different in style. Only 1 was a chaotic train wreck (spoiler, it was me from +10yrs ago)

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

I started by going over some high-level concepts around the mechanics of speech & vocal performance. I'm NOT a deep expert in this. I did a little choir and theatre as a kid, but no formal training. BUT, if you know me you know I am totally fascinated by voice acting

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

We tell our students to think about volume & enunciation. Can they hear you in back? Can we understand the words you're saying? These are of course basics of speech, & are easy(ish) to work on. Are you quiet? Get a mic! Do you mutter (like me)? Slow down and focus on sound shapes

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

Related concepts: diction (the choice of words), and pacing (the speed). I struggle with a lot of these naturally too. I speak too fast, don't enunciate, and sometimes choose weird words that my mouth isn't ready to say.

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

Another fascinating concept is Prosody: this is the rhythm, tempo, pitch of speech. Prosody is the musical, performance like qualities. It's how we convey emotion and energy (very important in Sci-Comm), and also your personality.

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

A great example of this is Carl Sagan. He has extremely (in my view) unique prosody. Unique rhythm with lots of pauses, strong emphasis of certain sounds, hints of a Brooklyn accent. Love or hate it, Sagan is instantly recognizable!

https://www.rigb.org/explore-science/explore/video/planets-earth-planet-1977

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

I don't expect my students to be expert performers. Controlling all these aspects of your speech is very challenging, and well beyond my mandate for this course. But I personally find learning a little about the mechanics speech and performance so helpful

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

Despite LOVING being on stage, performing, like many folks I hate my speaking voice. I struggle with nerves, filler words, enunciation, volume, pacing... but I've been learning to love my prosody. Your voice is unique, embrace that!

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

Thinking about how performers who are WAY better than me work is helpful. You can practice & improve, "fix" elements of your speaking, become more confident over time. I find studying the mechanics of speech makes it more approachable! +There are many great exercises to do!

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

@knud yes!! I asked students if anyone had vocal training. A couple did choir, some did theatre, one mentioned vocal warmups from a debate class!

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

@vicgrinberg @knud interesting!! Any useful reference, activities, or lessons you can share?

jradavenport, to Astro
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

Today a prospective grad student & I were talking about building/tinkering and curiosity.... I said "billion dollar space missions and creative garage art projects interest me equally". They looked at me ~skeptically, so I pulled this #book
off my shelf...
#astrodon #academicchatter

jradavenport, to random
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

Turning 40 next week, my bday is New Years Eve so I’m always reflective about Resolutions. This year especially…

My resolution in 2024 is to get on stage more. I started last night by doing my first* open mic

*I technically did one… 20yrs ago

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

I’m signing up for an Astro on Tap Seattle talk, have offered to teach a class in spring (I’m research faculty, so teaching is harder to come by 😕), saying yes to a few more conference talks, and will be running a panel at Emerald City ComicCon!

I’m also working to launch the Astro on Tap Roadshow this year 🥳, where we bring the show to breweries/cafés in other towns around the state that don’t have Astronomy programs. SOOOO excited for that

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

So that’s my plan this year. Get on stage more, be uncomfortable, share and learn and have fun and control the things that I actually can control.

Where else should I check out this year?

jradavenport, to Astro
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

Can any more Solar Astronomy/physics savvy friends help me? I’m looking for long term effective temperature estimates over the activity cycle, akin to the TSI (brightness) changes you can see. Any leads? #Astrodon #astronomy

jradavenport, to Astro
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

A small win this week:
Released my first python package on PyPI (I've put lots of code into the world, but this is first pip installable!)
Doing longslit/basic spectroscopic data reduction? Check out PyKOSMOS!
https://pypi.org/project/pykosmos/

#astrodon #astronomy

megschwamb, to random
@megschwamb@mastodon.online avatar

I'm spending the next two days at the Breakthrough Listen’s
UK Technosignature Workshop https://www.bluk.uk/ #BLUK

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

@megschwamb this motivated me to look at the Lasair broker today… so far very impressed!

jradavenport, to Astro
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

My fav thing about working from home, besides saving TWO HOURS commuting, picking my kids up earlier, a better environment to write... is getting to make myself a big breakfast & have a morning routine. Before kids I had a great AM routine. When I WFH I can take some time, cook, and start the day.
#astrodon #academicchatter

jradavenport, to Astro
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

New on the Astro Vlog: a dream come true, visiting Rubin Observatory in Chile!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFt9e1WxfZ8

#astrodon #astronomy #travel #vlog

jradavenport, to Astro
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

In the next few years, we will have more stars in our catalogs than people on Earth. I love statistics, but like people, every single star has a story. We are the cosmic journalists, and our job is to know which stories to tell.
#astrodon #astronomy #academicchatter

sundogplanets, to random
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social avatar

It just amazes me that people keep expecting me to fly all over the place for conferences and seminar lectures. I've gotten uninvited to 2 conferences in the last couple weeks by politely asking if I could give the invited talk remotely instead. This is dumb, we need to change.

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

@carlysagan @sundogplanets if you mean: flying to conferences to network and get their work into the community, then… yes?

jradavenport, to random
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

Got my Crash Course coin in the mail… but the wrapping is too beautiful and I don’t want to open it 😂

image/jpeg

jradavenport,
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

I caved in and opened it… and it’s a thing of beauty! Love the JWST image #astrodon

jradavenport, to random
@jradavenport@mastodon.social avatar

I’m a university professor of astronomy and sometimes I see the Moon and think “man… that thing is fucking weird, just hanging in the sky like that”

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • megavids
  • thenastyranch
  • rosin
  • GTA5RPClips
  • osvaldo12
  • love
  • Youngstown
  • slotface
  • khanakhh
  • everett
  • kavyap
  • mdbf
  • DreamBathrooms
  • ngwrru68w68
  • provamag3
  • magazineikmin
  • InstantRegret
  • normalnudes
  • tacticalgear
  • cubers
  • ethstaker
  • modclub
  • cisconetworking
  • Durango
  • anitta
  • Leos
  • tester
  • JUstTest
  • All magazines
    •