astronomy

Raychelle Burks

Raychelle Burks is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Raychelle Burks rather than just read about it. In short: Raychelle Burks is an associate professor of analytical chemistry at American University in Washington, D.C., and science communicator, who has regularly appeared on the Science Channel. In 2020, the American Chemical Society awarded her the Grady-Stack award for her public engagement excellence.

Key takeaways

Raychelle Burks belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Raychelle Burks to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Raychelle Burks from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Raychelle Burks is an associate professor of analytical chemistry at American University in Washington, D.C., and science communicator, who has regularly appeared on the Science Channel. In 2020, the American Chemical Society awarded her the Grady-Stack award for her public engagement excellence.

Early life and education Burks developed an interest in forensic chemistry when she was 12 after a field trip that presented students with a science interaction challenge, asking students to solve a real-world problem using science. Burks earned her BS in chemistry at the University of Northern Iowa, her MSc in Forensic Science at Nebraska Wesleyan University, her PhD in chemistry from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and was a postdoctoral research associate at the Doane College.

Career and research Burks became an assistant professor of chemistry at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, in 2016, where she taught and conducted research until 2020. She then moved to Washington, D.C., to join the faculty at American University as an associate professor of chemistry. Her current research centers on developing low-cost colorimetric sensors for detecting chemicals of forensic interest including explosives and illicit drugs. To maximize portability in the field, her group focuses on transforming smartphones into detection devices. Her research interests lie in the applied science domain, which she believes is well-suited to capturing and holding students' attention because they are working to solve real-world problems. She has spoken about her intersectional research approach to equipping students with the technical knowledge they need to work on these real-world challenges with the United States Department of Defense Science, Technology, and Innovation Exchange.

Public engagement Burks is a popular science communicator, using pop culture as an anchor to explore chemistry. She appeared on the Science Channel's Outrageous Acts of Science and Reactions, the video series for the American Chemical Society. She has appeared on Mother Jones' Inquiring Minds podcast to share how chemistry can save you from a zombie apocalypse and on The Story Collider podcast with a story from her time working in a crime lab. In early 2020, she appeared on the NPR Short Wave podcast on the episode "A Short Wave Guide to Good - and Bad - TV Forensics". Burks has also contributed to scientific interest pieces for St. Andrew University on using chemistry in every day life. Her writing has been featured in Slate, The Washington Post, UNDARK, and Chemistry World. Burks is also an advocate for women and underrepresented groups in science, speaking from her experiences as a black woman in STEM. In 2018, Burks was a co-principal investigator for a $1.5 million NSF STEM grant to fund the establishment of the St. Andrew's Institute for Interdisciplinary Science (I4), which would promote internships and research opportunities for underrepresented groups in STEM. She founded the DIYSciZone at GeekGirlCon, bringing scientists and science educators together to give convention attendees hands-on experiences with science experiments. The citation for her American Chemical Society Grady-Stack award read, "Raychelle is a public-scientist extraordinaire... She inspires a love of chemistry by bringing chemistry directly to where her audience is. This direct engagement — her commitment to finding chemistry that can entertain and enlighten people who wouldn't normally think of science — is nothing short of phenomenal". Burks is active on social media to promote her field and fellow scientists. In 2020, Burks appeared in the Tribeca Film Festival in the film "Picture a Scientist."

Awards and honors Her awards and honors include;

2019 AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador 2019 Young Observer Award at the 50th IUPAC General Assembly and 47th World Chemistry Congress in Paris, France 2020 American Chemical Society Grady-Stack award for her public engagement excellence BBC Science Focus named her one of six women changing chemistry in February 2021 2023 Research Corporation for Science Advancement's Robert Holland Jr. Award for Research Excellence and Contributions to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Raychelle Burks

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Raychelle Burks claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Raychelle Burks before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Raychelle Burks ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Raychelle Burks

In research: Raychelle Burks appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Raychelle Burks in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Raychelle Burks is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American forensic scientists, American science communicators, American women chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Raychelle Burks outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Raychelle Burks in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Raychelle Burks means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Raychelle Burks out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Raychelle Burks in simple terms?

Why does Raychelle Burks matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Raychelle Burks?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Raychelle Burks.