Abstract

The solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, offered an invaluable opportunity to engage Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, and Signing communities in astronomical education and outreach. Deaf and Signing individuals are not sufficiently included in astronomical activities: both in public outreach and in the training of professional scientists. The authors of this article, in working to improve Deaf/Signing inclusion in astronomy education and outreach, have carried out a range of activities in a variety of settings: online via Atomic Hands; at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, NY; at Boston University; and at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. We cast special attention on our activities associated with the 2024 solar eclipse, which collectively reached thousands of Deaf individuals, as well as other recent astronomy education efforts. We comment on how the community of hearing astronomers can better include Deaf/HH/Signing individuals and communities in their activities.

1. Introduction

This article describes astronomy education and outreach efforts that we, the authors, have recently carried out for Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing (HH), and Signing audiences, with a focus on the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse. To emphasize the importance of this work, a few introductory comments illustrate the history and status quo of d/Deaf1 inclusion in the astronomical sciences.

Many deaf individuals have made historically significant contributions to astronomy2. Nonetheless, today Deaf people are under-represented in the astronomical sciences to a severe degree3. While precise statistics on the state of Deaf, HH, and Signing individuals in astronomy are difficult to know with certainty4, the authors are unaware of any Deaf and Signing individuals currently working in research or education in astronomy or astrophysics in North America5. 

Outreach efforts in the astronomical and space sciences often neglect Deaf audiences. Deaf and Signing inclusion in the local observatory, planetarium, and museum activities are often minimal or lacking, and even large international outreach activities backed by well-resourced organizations such as NASA rarely make provisions for Deaf and Signing inclusion. Deaf audiences are occasionally targeted within outreach efforts that have a broad accessibility & disability theme or as a combined “blind & deaf” audience. While these efforts are of course welcomed, in practice they often have too broad a scope to effectively engage with and serve Deaf and Signing audiences, and/or lack leadership who are sufficiently familiar with Deaf communities and signed languages.

The lack of Deaf inclusion in the astronomical profession, and in education and outreach activities, is not due to the inability on the part of Deaf people to appreciate and do science but rather to the severe barriers that Deaf individuals face in education and employment6. Deaf scientists outside astronomy have recently provided guidance and commentary on their needs within STEM7, reflecting a strong need for STEM lexicons in signed languages, for social and mental health support, and for appropriate accommodations (including quality interpretation) within conference spaces. There is an unfortunate lack of research and data in the scientific literature on science outreach to the Deaf community, which hinders effective guidance on best practices for Deaf inclusion in outreach activities.

An important step towards better inclusion of Deaf and Signing individuals in astronomy outreach, education, and research is for those at the intersection of professional science and the Deaf community to provide guidance to the astronomical community on best practices. The author list of this article includes two Deaf scientists, a Deaf undergraduate student, a hearing CODA (child of Deaf adults) astronomer who grew up in a Deaf household and has native fluency in American Sign Language (ASL), and three hearing astronomers who have acquired varying degrees of fluency in ASL and who have experience teaching and mentoring Deaf students in astronomy. This article documents some of the work that we did to prepare our communities for the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse, as well as our advice to the broader astronomy community on how to support the inclusion of Deaf and Signing individuals into this profession going forward. 

The activities described in this article generally proceed from the principle that the ideal way to improve Deaf and Signing inclusion in astronomy is to engage with Deaf and Signing leadership whenever possible, and for hearing individuals to work closely with stakeholders and learn from the experiences and advice of Deaf scientists and educators. As Gallaudet University professor Caroline Solomon wrote in a World View article for Nature Human Behavior [1] regarding ASL STEM lexicon tools, 

“If deaf stakeholders are not prominent in the development of the resource, there will be no buy-in from the community as its members question the reliability of the resources. Moving forward, it needs to be recognized that deaf scientists, educators and interpreters must be at the bedrock of these efforts as leaders and initiators, and through consultation, surveys and focus groups.”

This article is organized as follows. In Section 2, we describe the community education and outreach resources and events we created and organized to include Deaf and Signing audiences in the April 2024 solar eclipse, which collectively reached thousands of Deaf individuals. Section 2.1 focuses on Rochester, NY, which is home of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf as well as one of the country’s largest Deaf and Signing communities, and which was serendipitously inside this eclipse’s path of totality. Section 2.2 describes how Atomic Hands, a Deaf-founded nonprofit that produces STEM education videos in ASL, created and disseminated online videos to prepare Deaf and Signing communities for the solar eclipse. Section 2.3 describes student-led solar eclipse preparation and viewing events at Gallaudet University, a four-year university in Washington, DC which is home to the largest Deaf university student community in the world, and which experienced an 87% partial solar eclipse. Section 2.4 includes notes on how to prepare Deaf communities for the upcoming 2044 and 2045 solar eclipses. In Section 3, we describe our experiences and advice on including Deaf students in professional science training and education. Section 3.1 conveys lessons learned from professional Deaf scientists and their need for discipline-specific ASL lexicons. Section 3.2 relays lessons learned from including Deaf students in astronomy research at Boston University. Concluding commentary is given in Section 4, including advice to those who seek to include Deaf individuals in astronomy outreach and education. Finally, Section 5 gives a short biography of each of the authors.

2. The April 8, 2024 Solar Eclipse

2.1 – Rochester, NY, and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf

Tom Rice, Jason Nordhaus, Allison McCarthy, Phil Muirhead

The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is the world’s first and largest technical college for deaf students and one of the premier institutes for deaf education in the world. Established in 1965 by the United States Congress, NTID is one of the eleven colleges of RIT. Currently, the nearly 1,200 Deaf and HH students at NTID comprise ~8% of the total RIT student body, which creates a diverse and culturally-rich environment. In addition, NTID is the largest trainer and employer of interpreters in the US and is unique in that it combines a very large deaf student population with a full suite of bachelor- and graduate-level programs in physics and astronomy. Access services at RIT/NTID are best-in-class and provided by 132 interpreters, 57 real-time captionists, and 400 trained notetakers for a total of ~200,000 support hours provided in 2023. Quite literally, RIT/NTID has developed many of the best practices and techniques in Deaf education.

Rochester, NY was in the path of totality for the April 8, 2024 eclipse. As such, local planning began early: the American Astronomical Society’s Solar Eclipse Task Force convened a national eclipse preparation workshop in October 2022 at the Rochester Museum and Science Center. Author Rice attended this meeting, and visited NTID both to spread awareness of the upcoming solar eclipse to the NTID community as well as to share his experiences as a CODA in astronomy to a mixed Deaf/hearing audience8.

A variety of outreach events involving author Nordhaus occurred in 2024 including:

1. A nationwide webinar for deaf and hard-of-hearing middle school and high school students as part of NTID’s Career Exploration Series. This event occurred on March 19th, 2024, and was entitled “Solar Eclipses: The Path of Totality”. As part of this series, NTID provided/shipped to all registered students a free pair of solar eclipse glasses. 

2. NTID made a social media eclipse video in ASL featuring Nordhaus (see Figure 1) that went viral. The video can be seen here:
   https://www.facebook.com/ritntid/videos/solar-eclipse-fun-facts-with-dr-jason-nordhaus/802368905088291/

   This video received 172,000+ plays on Facebook; it was also shared widely on Instagram and TikTok.
   

3. Various other local events such as a television news interview on eclipses in the solar system, classroom activities, and interactions with students as part of the “Coffee Chats in Ellie’s Place” series. In addition, a large number of Deaf-friendly community events were organized through the Rochester Eclipse planning committee in partnership with the Rochester Museum and Science Center: https://rochestereclipse2024.org/

In the week of the eclipse, author Rice returned to Rochester and visited three NTID classes to discuss with students in ASL what they had seen or were about to see. Students in Grammar Lab and Environmental Science asked a broad range of questions, including “Why are solar eclipses so rare?” and “Do other planets have eclipses too?”; Rice had a wide-ranging discussion with these students on eclipses, planetary science, astronomy, physics, and related topics.

On the day of the eclipse, authors Nordhaus, Rice, McCarthy, and Muirhead gathered on the RIT campus in a conspicuous location amidst the university community’s Eclipse Fest (Figure 2), where we set up a solar telescope and cameras, and interacted with the Deaf student community before and during the eclipse. Overcast cloud conditions, unfortunately, prevented us from viewing the Sun and its corona during the eclipse; nonetheless, we enjoyed the experience of totality under cloud cover, a high level of interest and enthusiasm was generated by the events of the day, and the educational impact of the eclipse preparation was undiminished.

2.2 – Online and Everywhere / Atomic Hands

Alicia Wooten, Barbara Spiecker

Access to the solar eclipse has historically been limited to verbal and written forms of communication that may prevent the full inclusion of the deaf community. To combat the lack of accessibility, Atomic Hands is dedicated to breaking down these barriers in science communication. By providing ASL resources, we aim to make complex scientific concepts accessible and engaging for Deaf individuals, ensuring they have the tools to participate fully in the wonders of the universe. STEM communication and accessibility are crucial because they empower Deaf individuals to explore, learn, and contribute to scientific knowledge on equal footing with their hearing peers.

Atomic Hands collaborated with the Sci-Tech Discovery Center in Frisco, Texas, to create a series of educational videos in American Sign Language (ASL) about the 2024 solar eclipse. These four videos introduce the solar eclipse (Figure 3) and feature demonstrations of activities on the geometry of the eclipse, constructing a safe eclipse viewer, and understanding the relative sizes of celestial bodies involved in the event. Each video is fully captioned to ensure accessibility for all viewers. In addition to these videos, Atomic Hands recorded images of the solar eclipse happening for those to watch if they were not in the path of totality. 

These videos collectively received over 200,000 views on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram and will remain available to students, educators, and scientists as a resource for future eclipses and other science topics. Many teachers have reported using Atomic Hands videos in their classrooms, and community members have approached Atomic Hands in the streets to express appreciation for the educational value of their content, particularly in helping them understand the eclipse event and stay informed about safety measures.

2.3 – Gallaudet University 

Blessed Mbogo 

Gallaudet University is a four-year university in Washington, DC dedicated to the education of Deaf and HH students, with ASL and written English as the primary languages of social and academic life. With over 1,500 students, Gallaudet University is host to the largest community of Deaf and HH university students in the world. Washington, DC experienced 87% partial solar coverage for the April 8, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. Author Mbogo, an undergraduate Gallaudet student, led the planning and execution of two solar eclipse-related events described below.

The series of solar eclipse events in Spring 2024 at Gallaudet University were scheduled as an educational mini-tour. On March 27 an information session was held in the form of an accessible eclipse-focused talk with ASL interpreters provided. This talk was given by Anita Dey, Strategic Partnerships Manager at NASA Headquarters. Then the social event, which was the eclipse viewing, was hosted on April 8 at a dormitory collaboration area with open wall access, Living and Learning Residence Hall 6 where eclipse glasses and refreshments were provided half an hour before the eclipse was visible. The distribution poster (Figure 4, left panel) included information on the dates and locations, as well as descriptions of each tour event, contact information, and a written definition of a solar eclipse coupled with a visual diagram. 

The turnout (Figure 4, right panel) was tremendous as the Gallaudet Mall and other nearby outdoor areas were full of traffic, viewers, and lawn chairs. While no official headcount was taken, we estimated that almost a thousand participants were involved in the social event at any point in its duration as 300 eclipse glasses ran out very quickly and sharing was advised. The participating body included students, staff, faculty, parents, and children. The event location’s vast opening was exemplary of a Deaf-friendly space. It allowed ease of visual communication without any physical barriers, as well as access to information from stimulating side conversations one may not be directly involved in but may end up becoming part of. Additionally, at the collaboration center, a NASA live stream was available with in-person ASL interpreters.

The experience was quite rewarding for all parties involved. Primarily, there was the educational benefit from learning about different types of astronomical events, different types of eclipses, and awareness of the NASA / DC Space Grant Consortium mission and opportunities. Participants would continue to converse about the eclipse event, emphasizing the viewer turnout and how something of this sort hasn’t occurred on campus in a long time. Resources such as eclipse glasses, refreshments, and the virtual eclipse talk, as well as interpreters, were funded by the DC Space Grant Consortium. Gallaudet University Student Engagement and Leadership also contributed a portion of the eclipse glasses supply. In future events of this magnitude, more supplies should be requested and DeafDisabled inclusion should be taken into consideration, particularly for those who may not be able to see the eclipse through their glasses and will need an interpreted livestream and those who may require mobility assistance. Officially provided transportation to nearby sites on the path of totality should also be considered in cases where a Deaf community resides just outside totality.

2.4 – Preparing Deaf audiences for the 2044 and 2045 North American solar eclipses

Tom Rice

The following locations on or near the path of totality of the August 22, 2044, and August 12, 2045, solar eclipses are currently (as of 2024) host to Deaf schools and communities. We encourage the residents of these states to ensure their solar eclipse events are fully Deaf accessible. Deaf accessibility typically includes some of the following aspects:

• Widespread access to both ASL interpreters and live-captioning

• On-site staff and volunteers comfortable in both spoken English and ASL

• Event venues that have open spaces and clear lines of sight which enable unobstructed visual communication

We also encourage future event planners to take into account accessibility needs for DeafBlind and DeafDisabled individuals. DeafBlind individuals often make use of tactile signing (e.g., Protactile) for their communication and interpretation needs, alongside other accommodations typical for blind and low-vision individuals. DeafDisabled individuals have a complex set of needs that may require case-by-case accommodations; in general, implementing universal design practices will be helpful. Additional information on how to meet accessibility needs for diverse Deaf, DeafBlind, and DeafDisabled audiences can be found by engaging with organizations such as the National Association for the Deaf (NAD), The National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes (NDC), the Golden State DeafBlind Service Center, the Helen Keller National Center for DeafBlind Youths and Adults (HKNC), Gallaudet University, and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID).

2044

The August 22, 2044 total solar eclipse will pass over the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind (Great Falls, MT) and the Alberta School for the Deaf (Edmonton, Alberta), as shown in Figure 5. 

2045

The August 12, 2045 solar eclipse will be the next major North American total solar eclipse likely to be viewed by millions of people from coast to coast. Deaf schools directly in the path of totality include Utah’s Jean Massieu School of the Deaf (Salt Lake City, UT) and Elizabeth DeLong School of the Deaf (Springville, UT); the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind (Colorado Springs, CO), the Arkansas School for the Deaf (Little Rock, AR), and the Mississippi School for the Deaf (Jackson, MS). Schools with a 99+% partial eclipse (from which totality may be reached within approximately one hour’s drive) include Utah’s Kenneth Burdett School for the Deaf (Ogden, UT) and the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind (St. Augustine, FL). High (80%+) levels of partial eclipse will be experienced by Deaf schools in the states of Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia; they are tabulated in Table 1 and annotated in Figure 6. Note that this list primarily includes state-run Deaf schools and may not be exhaustive.

Table 1: Deaf Schools on or near the path of totality for the August 12, 2045 solar eclipse

3. Including Deaf and Signing students in astronomy education and research

3.1 – Perspective from Deaf and Signing Professional Scientists

Alicia Wooten, Barbara Spiecker, Tom Rice

Deaf students and professionals in astronomy and related fields, such as physics and math, often face unique linguistic challenges due to the lack of established technical vocabulary in ASL for many STEM concepts. This gap exists because the deaf community has historically been underrepresented in STEM, limiting the language's development in these areas. As a result, accessing and engaging with complex astronomical topics can be difficult. Deaf students and professionals may rely on inefficient communication strategies, such as fingerspelling or loan signs, which hinder fluency in scientific discourse. For example, when discussing technical concepts like "electromagnetic radiation" or "orbital mechanics," these students and professionals might need to spell out terms rather than use precise, contextually accurate signs. Additionally, interpreters who are not experts in the field may invent inappropriate signs on the fly during interpretation or, in some cases, skip over technical details entirely, further complicating comprehension.

Efforts to address these challenges are gaining momentum (NOAA Education, 2019, Clark et al., 2021, Lualdi et al., 2023, Solomon, 2024), as deaf STEMists take ownership of their language and create signs that better utilize the visual-kinesthetic nature of ASL. This movement aims to establish a conceptual framework rather than merely translating English terms. For instance, the creation of signs that visually depict relationships between celestial bodies or phases of matter is part of an evolving lexicon that enhances both learning and teaching in astronomy and related fields. As this lexicon expands, Deaf students and professionals will engage more fully in scientific discussions, contributing to a shift in STEM communication practices, better-trained interpreters, and a more inclusive workplace culture in the field of astronomy.

Deaf STEM professionals also face accessibility barriers in their professional spaces such as academic conferences. Best practices have been outlined by Kasper et al. (2024), which include guidance on how conference organizers can ensure Deaf professionals receive appropriate sign language interpretation services and other access needs. Accessibility for DeafDisabled individuals in academic and research settings will also benefit from generally implementing disability accommodation practices such as those identified in the Astro2020 white paper Accessible Astronomy: Policies, Practices, and Strategies to Increase Participation of Astronomers with Disabilities [6].

3.2 – Perspective from mentoring Deaf students in astrophysics research

Allison McCarthy, Jason Nordhaus, Phil Muirhead

In the summer of 2022, authors Muirhead and McCarthy hosted a DeafBlind student at Boston University for a summer research program. The summer internship was supported by an NSF award. The goals of the program were to create research opportunities for Deaf and HH astronomy and physics majors, to position those students for successful careers in astronomy and astrophysics, and for our hosting department to develop tools and resources to support Deaf and HH students.

To provide the best possible environment for the student to succeed, we used NSF funds to provide housing for the student, and we coordinated with interpreter teams at NTID and BU. The student communicated using a form of tactile ASL called Protactile, and we were unable to hire local Protactile interpreters for the internship. Instead, we contracted Protactile interpreters from NTID via a consulting firm and arranged for their housing near campus. The Protactile team were themselves Deaf, requiring another layer of interpreters to interpret ASL to spoken English and back. The ASL to spoken English interpreters were provided by BU’s Office of Disability Access Services. To help offset costs associated with the interpreter team, we submitted a supplementary request to NSF’s Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities (FASED) program, which was successful.

Ahead of the student's arrival on campus, we took several ASL courses to familiarize ourselves with everyday signs, ASL grammar, and Deaf culture. Throughout the summer, we continued to improve our ASL knowledge, by using online resources such as Atomic Hands. 

As hearing scientists, one hurdle we encountered when working with ASL interpreters to communicate with Deaf students is that not all interpreters are trained in college-level math and science concepts and jargon. Especially when conducting research, graduate-level topics are often discussed, and there aren’t necessarily standard or commonly used signs for these highly technical words and concepts. Additionally, like most languages, translation is not a word-to-word process. For these reasons, the interpreters must work directly with the instructors, mentors, and research advisors to gain a level of understanding of the material to interpret words, phrases, and concepts accurately. 

For us, this process looked like individual meetings and conversations with the interpreters without the student present where they could ask questions about the subject matter that would be discussed during the student’s research meetings. In these preparatory conversations, we described the phenomena that were important to the research and also explained the jargon used in coding languages. With the gained knowledge from these meetings, the interpreters worked with the student to create an ASL dictionary of signs specific to their research project. As mentors, we then added English-language explanations to the dictionary so that it could be used as a reference for the interpreters and students.

This dictionary was critical to the student’s success. The dictionary was typed up, and disseminated to all interpreters ahead of their assignment, which allowed them to become familiar with the signs and be fully prepared for the daily research meetings. In the fall semester, the student continued to work with us to complete their project, and the dictionary was disseminated to the interpreters working with them at NTID. 

4. Conclusions and Takeaways

4.1 – General Advice 

• Look for guidance on best practices from those at the intersection of professional science and the Deaf community. Engage with Deaf and Signing leadership whenever possible; hearing individuals should plan to work closely with and learn from the experiences and advice of Deaf scientists and educators. Include Deaf scientists, educators, and interpreters in leadership roles for education and outreach efforts, and plan to include their perspectives through consultation, surveys, and focus groups.

• Look to Deaf-serving institutions like RIT/NTID and Gallaudet for guidance and best practices, as these institutions have developed many of the best practices and techniques in Deaf education, and have built best-in-class access services (i.e., interpreting, captioning, and note-taking).

• Provide ASL resources. Make use of ASL STEM dictionaries.

• Ensure video resources are fully captioned to ensure accessibility for all viewers.

• Hearing individuals endeavoring to work with Deaf students or audiences should plan to take ASL courses to familiarize themselves with everyday signs, ASL grammar, and Deaf culture. If these hearing individuals plan to make a career in working with Deaf people, seeking fluency in ASL is recommended. 

• Take into account the needs of Deaf individuals who are multiply disabled, e.g., DeafBlind, or who have other access needs.

4.2 – Advice for Deaf-inclusive outreach events 

• Provide a variety of outreach events for Deaf communities to engage in, including live webinars, online informational videos, and local in-person engagement.

• In-person classroom visits at Deaf schools are important.

• Events should be held whenever possible in physical spaces that conform to DeafSpace philosophies of minimal visual obstructions which enable clear signed communication.

4.3 – Advice for inclusion of Deaf individuals in science research

• As noted in Section 1, Deaf scientists have provided guidance and commentary on their needs within STEM (see Lualdi et al. 2023, Madhusoodanan 2024, and Kasper et al. 2024). These needs include STEM lexicons in signed languages, social and mental health support, and appropriate accommodations (including quality interpretation) within conference spaces.

• When a pre-existing appropriate ASL lexicon does not exist for a given project or research subfield, work with interpreters, native/fluent signers, and subject matter experts to create a reference lexicon for the benefit of both science practitioners (including students) as well as their interpreters.

• Note that not all ASL interpreters are familiar with research-level science and math concepts or terminology; when these skills are needed, be sure to identify qualified interpreters.

• Make use of funding resources (e.g., through foundations and agencies like the NSF) focused on supporting individuals with disabilities, such as NSF’s FASED program.

The authors hope that the perspectives, narratives, and guidance described in this article aid the astronomical research and education communities in effectively including Deaf, HH, and Signing students and audiences in future astronomy activities. Lead author Rice may be contacted for questions at [email protected].

5. About the Authors

Tom Rice, Ph.D. is a CODA astronomer and educator. He is a staff member of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), where he directs AAS’s education programs, and he is an Assistant Research Professor in Physics at George Washington University. His astronomy research focuses on using infrared and radio telescopes to study the formation of stars and planets. He is committed to inclusive and accessible science education and to removing barriers to success for marginalized groups. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. Dr. Rice grew up in a Deaf family in which ASL was the home language and is one of 13 members of his extended family who are either Deaf or CODA. 

Barbara Spiecker, Ph.D. is a deaf marine ecologist at the University of New Hampshire. She conducts quantitative modeling of intertidal and subtidal macroalgae ecosystems to better understand the complexity of scale and pattern in these ecosystems and how the patterns may alter in response to climate change. She is also very involved in developing STEM-specific educational resources in ASL, consulting on bilingual K-13 STEM instruction, and performing standardized test translation. She has a Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from Oregon State University, M.S. in Marine Biology from Northeastern University, and a B.S. in Biology from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Alicia Wooten, Ph.D. is a Deaf immunologist and associate professor of biology at Gallaudet University. She conducts immunology-based research as well as educational research focused on Deaf education within STEM topics, exploring how students learn with informationally accurate sign language. Alicia has experience in developing K-12 and college-level STEM educational resources in ASL. She has a Ph.D. in Molecular and Translational Medicine from Boston University and a B.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Rochester Institute of Technology. 

Blessed Mbogo is a fifth-year undergraduate student at Gallaudet University double-majoring in biology and psychology, with a minor in mathematics. He was born in Kampala, Uganda, and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland. Blessed is a captain in college athletics for Gallaudet’s men’s basketball team and won All-District Academic honors for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. He also competed for Team USA’s Deaf National Basketball team in Argentina and Greece. Blessed plans to pursue advanced degrees in applied statistics and/or biostatistics, and aims to develop skills in epidemiology as well as data science and machine learning. 

Jason Nordhaus, Ph.D. is a theoretical astrophysicist and Associate Professor at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at RIT. Professor Nordhaus is committed to increasing the participation of Deaf individuals in physics and astronomy and routinely involves Deaf students in research work (16 undergraduates and 1 Ph.D. student to date). Before joining the RIT faculty, Professor Nordhaus was an NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow and a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Rochester.

Allison McCarthy is currently a 5th-year graduate student in Astronomy at Boston University and received her undergraduate degree at the University of Alabama in Physics. She uses space and ground-based telescopes to study the weather on worlds outside of our solar system. Allison is currently a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and is passionate about increasing the participation of Deaf individuals in astronomy. Through targeted outreach programs she hopes to make astronomy more accessible to Deaf and HH communities.

Philip Muirhead, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Boston University Department of Astronomy, and he is the Director of the Perkins Telescope Observatory. His research involves the fundamental properties and galactic demographics of low-mass stars, brown dwarfs, and the planets that orbit them. He is the Principal Investigator of the Perkins Infrared Exosatellite Survey (PINES), a NASA-funded search for exosatellites orbiting L and T dwarfs. He earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University.

Acknowledgements

Author Rice gratefully acknowledges West Resendes for helpful commentary and discussions.

References from footnotes

Lewis, Deaf astronomers throughout history 2022

Pold, J., Ivie, R., & AAS Demographic Committee. (2018)

Infoguides: Deaf people in astronomy and rocket science

Deaf Scientist Corner: Astronomy.

Mitchell, R. E. (2006)

Garberoglio, C.L., Palmer, J.L., Cawthon, S., & Sales, A. (2019a)

Garberoglio, C. L., Palmer, J. L., Cawthon, S., & Sales, A. (2019b)