BOOKS

WE CAN DO IT! A PROBLEM SOLVING GRAPHIC NOVEL GUIDE FOR GENERAL PHYSICS (2015, 2020)

Coauthor, illustrator

We Can Do It! is a problem solving guide for students in college-level general physics courses. The chapters correspond to a typical general physics textbook with worked problems that represent those commonly encountered in undergraduate physics courses. With the graphic novel format, we are able to weave the problem-solving instruction throughout an engaging story in which characters provide intuitive depictions of the core concepts. The storyline is also designed to inspire students who feel discouraged in their physics courses and who may experience imposter syndrome.

We are currently under contract with CRC Press to produce the full two-semester edition. In 2015 we self-published the First Semester Edition on Amazon CreateSpace with funding through the crowdsourcing platform Kickstarter. This edition has been discontinued as of 2018, but maintains a 5 star rating on Amazon. 

XAFS FOR EVERYONE (2011)

Illustrator and early draft writer

XAFS For Everyone is a handbook for X-ray Absorption Fine Structure spectroscopy that was designed to be an accessible guide to XAFS for practitioners of all backgrounds, from paleontology to physical chemistry. I illustrated the cartoon animals depicted on the cover, each of which represents a scientist from a different field with a distinct purpose for using XAFS. These characters appear throughout the margins of book, where they discuss the content and how to apply it from their specific disciplinary perspective.

I also wrote early drafts of Chapter 3, which covers common sample preparation techniques for XAFS. In order to describe these techniques, I conducted benchwork and a literature review during a summer research assistantship with the author, Dr. Scott Calvin, in the Physics Department at Sarah Lawrence College.