Contact and FAQ

Contact

Email: zoharesque@bigpond.com

Bluesky: @drspacejunk.bsky.social

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-gorman-94903614/

Policy on school engagement

I'm frequently asked to help a primary or high school student with a project, usually by answering a series of questions about space debris, space archaeology, or just general space stuff.

Unfortunately I'm not in a position to provide this service.

One reason is the sheer volume of emails received, and the time it would take to reply to each one in a way that is useful for the student. I appreciate that it can be valuable for school students to see that scientists are real people, and that this is a career they can aspire to. I'd love to give every student personalised attention, but it just isn't possible. Plus, I have my own students already!

Often the students will email a set of questions which are just about basic facts, things they could easily find out on their own. For example, asking me how much space debris there is, is not an effective use of limited time and does not develop the student's research capabilities. A more interesting question might be, how much space debris might have heritage value? I don't actually know the answer to this question, and I should really figure this out!

If you're a teacher: I don't want to add to your workload, but it's really important to review the student's questions before they are sent out. You want the scientist to say yes, not be annoyed that the student didn't do any basic research beforehand, or to get the feeling that they're just an interchangeable number - if the student knew something about my research beforehand, they might ask more targetted questions, and really get something out of the exchange. If you really think a personal engagement would be bemeficial, consider asking the scientist to give a talk at your school or do an online Q & A. They still might not have time to do it, but reaching many students rather than just one is a different sort of time commitment.

If you're a student: find out about the person you're emailing and show them that you've done your homework. If the scientist has a high public profile, there are likely to be many online resources you can use to find out their perspective, like interviews, podcasts, and popular science articles. You could even read posts on this blog. You might have specific questions about space exploration or space junk, but your research skills will benefit more from reading books, articles and online resources than just having someone tell you the answers. Be prepared not to hear back and try and understand why this might be: for example, I often get multiple requests from students at multiple schools. It's definitely not personal!

This kind of personal interaction isn't the only, or even the best way, to gain an educational benefit. Students could also consider following a scientist on social media like Bluesky or Instagram, attend public lectures, listen to podcasts and read interviews online. These can give you a good idea of how and why someone became a scientist, what choices they made in their career, and what inspires them. I include some links to online things I've done below.

Public outreach is an important part of what scientists do. But we can't be everyone's personal on-call scientist, as astrophysicist Katie Mack says.