David Kipping: Falling Off a Mountain

Before starting his PhD in Astronomy, Springer Storyteller David Kipping goes on an eventful – perhaps even reckless – trip to the Himalayas. Listen below or stream the official podcast!

Listen on iTunes!

David Kipping is a 30-year old astrophysicist working at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics as a Menzel Fellow. He grew up in the UK but emigrated to the USA five years ago. He researches a variety of topics related to extrasolar planets, but his main project is searching for exomoons.

Tomorrow is launch day at Before the Abstract!

Springer StorytellersHello BTA fans and subscribers – the day is almost here that we finally go live!

Tomorrow we will post our inaugural Springer Storytellers podcast in the “Listen” section, which features the story of Dr. Kaspar von Braun, astrophysicist at Lowell  Observatory. Dr. von Braun presented his story on January 6, 2015, alongside the American Astronomical Society’s annual meeting.

Be sure to sign up to receive regular updates when new content is posted, and you can also subscribe at “Before the Abstract” on iTunes. And maybe most importantly – tell your friends, family and colleagues to do the same!

Thanks for your support, and we look forward to bringing you many, many more examples of storytelling in science.

Our favorite Tweets from the Springer Storytellers show in Seattle!

We had a terrific inaugural event in Seattle in front of a sold-out and enthusiastic crowd, with great speakers and entertaining stories about science (look for the podcasts soon!). Held alongside the American Astronomical Society’s 225th Meeting, astronomers kicked off the first Springer Storytellers show with a big bang (pun intended), sharing personal stories about the challenges they have faced in their career to find their direction, the thrill of scientific discovery and quite literally, falling off a mountain.

Rather than wax poetic about how thrilled we were to bring this storytelling event to Seattle, we thought we would let the tweets “tell the story” instead.

Our Audience

We hosted a mix of astronomers, scientists, science enthusiasts and the general public, but the storytelling format made it relevant and interesting to all.

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The Stories

It’s challenging to tell a whole story in 140 characters, but there were some great nuggets perfect for sharing.

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The Storytellers

It’s no easy feat to get up in front of a large crowd with no notes, no powerpoint slides and tell a story that grips the audience. But our Storytellers found it a rewarding experience…one that kept them “buzzing” for long after the show was over.

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And finally… 

We are glad that our giveaways – earbuds with wire management – were appreciated!

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Be sure to subscribe to updates on future shows, and to learn about our most recent posts; we’ll be fully up and running with great stories to share later this spring!