Podcaster: Mike Simmons
Title: Big Impact Astrononomy: Taisiia Karasova
Organization: Astronomy for Equity
Link : https://astro4equity.org/big-impact-astronomy-podcast/
Description:
This episode, Mike interview Taisiia Karasova about Inspiring Astronomy Education in Wartime
Highlight: Astronomy as a grounding force during war: “In times of extreme stress, focusing on studies and astronomy helps students stay grounded, offering a sense of normalcy and future hope.”
Taisiia Karasova, a Ukrainian student at MIT, shares her journey from founding Astro Sandbox to promoting astronomy education in Ukraine, even during wartime.
She emphasizes how the Astro Sandbox initiative fosters community and academic excellence in astronomy for high school students through webinars, tournaments, and resource archives.
Big Impact Astronomy: Through the Telescope is a video podcast that highlights the remarkable work of astronomy enthusiasts worldwide. Hosted by Mike Simmons, this podcast showcases how astronomy is used to improve lives in schools, refugee camps, hospitals, and more. Each episode features dedicated volunteers who introduce STEM in developing countries, inspire girls to pursue science careers, and bring hope to communities in crisis. Join us as we explore the stories of these unsung heroes making a difference through the wonders of the cosmos.
Bio: Mike Simmons is the founder of Astronomy for Equity ( https://bmsis.org/astro4equity/ ). Others on the team, including people around the world in astronomy and space exploration, authors and philosophers, designers and artists and more will be added as the website is developed.
Mike founded Astronomers Without Borders in 2006 to unite astronomy and space enthusiasts around the world through their common interests. During the UN-declared International Year of Astronomy 2009, Mike led the effort to organize the Cornerstone Project 100 Hours of Astronomy in more than 100 countries, with an estimated one million people looking through outreach telescopes in one night.
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Transcript:
- 🎙️ Introducing Taisiia Karasova Mike welcomes Taisiia, a Ukrainian student and founder of Astro Sandbox, now studying at MIT.
- 🚀 The Birth of Astro Sandbox Taisiia explains her motivation for creating Astro Sandbox, a community for high school students passionate about astronomy.
- 📚 Supporting Students Through Advanced Astronomy Discussion on how Astro Sandbox provides webinars, clubs, and tournaments to teach advanced astronomy concepts, even to middle schoolers.
- 🏆 Astro Fights: Competitive Learning Taisiia shares the unique format of the Astro Fights competition, where students challenge each other’s astronomy solutions.
- 🌍 Ukraine’s Astronomy Olympiad Success The importance of Ukraine’s participation in international astronomy competitions and how Astro Sandbox aids students in preparing for them.
- ⚔️ Studying Astronomy During Wartime Taisiia reflects on how the war in Ukraine has affected students’ ability to study and why focusing on astronomy provides mental relief and hope.
- 🔭 Bringing Telescopes to Ukraine Mike discusses the collaboration between Astronomy for Equity and Astro Sandbox in delivering telescopes to Ukrainian students during the war.
- 🌟 Looking to the Future Taisiia shares her hopes for future astronomy outreach in Ukraine and how initiatives like hers are making a difference.
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
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