Carolina Science Cafe | Chasing Awe

Join us for our next installment of the Carolina Science Cafe, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s free, current science awareness program. For the July cafe, we will welcome Dr. Sheila Kannappan, a professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at UNC-Chapel Hill.

After chasing last year’s total solar eclipse to Texas, Kannappan decided to make 2024 the perfect Year of Awe by chasing the Northern Lights for two months in Minnesota in the fall. With solar activity at an 11-year maximum, she was lucky to see the aurora at least five times, depending on how you count. In this talk, Kannappan will share a taste of the wonders she witnessed and what she learned about how to maximize aurora chasing success.

Designed for adults, this program explores science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the work. The Carolina Science Cafe is hosted at Haw River Tab & Table in Carrboro on the first Tuesday of every month. Light appetizers are available for all attendees.

About the Speaker

Sheila Kannappan has been on the faculty of the Physics & Astronomy Department at UNC-Chapel Hill since 2007. A recurring theme of her research is finding evidence that dwarf galaxies have much more exciting lives than previously thought: these supposedly boring galaxies turn out to be subject to overwhelming gas inflows from the cosmos, which fuel both exponential growth via star formation and unexpectedly widespread activity in massive black holes.

In 2024, Dr. Kannappan retired from teaching and began pursuing travel, writing, and public speaking related to sharing astronomical awe. She is no stranger to learning on the fly, having taught astronomy for 17 years with degrees only in physics (BA and PhD) and in the history of science (MA), all from Harvard.

Her commitment to education and public outreach in North Carolina began before graduate school, when she spent two years as a 9th-grade teacher in Rocky Mount through Teach for America. That experience fueled a lifelong passion for educational equity and inspiring young people.