About me#
I am a scientist and software engineer, with a background in artificial intelligence and marine developmental genomics. I currently work full time at the SKA Observatory, designing and building software for radio astronomy – contributing to the SKAO’s mission to transform our understanding of the universe and participating in one of the most ambitious science projects in history. You can learn more about my professional experience on my personal site.
How this site began#
Pale Blue Marbles began in 2020 when I found myself homeschooling my (then) 6- and 8-year old children during the COVID-19 pandemic. I spent my evenings preparing lesson plans and my days figuring out how to juggle teaching with my work.
Amid the chaos, homeschooling brought me joy. I loved seeing my children’s eyes light up with curiosity and wonder when we learnt new things together. It inspired me to create resources that might spark that same sense of wonder in others.
We may be confined to our homes right now but our minds are still free to roam the Universe.
I began sharing articles about astrobiology – the study of life in the universe – along with activity ideas and printable learning packs. These included puzzles, colouring pages, quizzes, and worksheets — all free to use and download.
The name Pale Blue Marbles was inspired by two iconic images of our home planet: The Pale Blue Dot and The Blue Marble.
The site today#
I’ve made some changes to the format of the site in the last year, including making the activity packs more readily available (I previously emailed these but you can now download them directly from the site).
Looking forward#
Surprisingly, my most popular post is not one of the science-themed activity posts – it’s a post I created on nature poems: 20 Nature Poems for Kids. This is also one of my favourites.
Poetry and science both cultivate curiosity and both can shift our perspective in different ways. Both involve noticing and discovering patterns and connections. And both appeal to the imagination of children as well as adults.
So I plan to expand Pale Blue Marbles into the space where poetry and science meet: making sense of star stuff – one poem at a time.
