Prioritizing community outreach and engagement is becoming a more common practice in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. However, the Astro2020 Decadal Review highlighted the need for the astronomical community to expand their community engagement efforts well beyond the current levels in order to both advance scientific research and to empower and benefit local communities. While governmental granting agencies emphasize and support such activities to some level, demands related to research, service, teaching, and functional duties can make engaging in many activities on a meaningful level prohibitive. Geographical limitations and workplace restrictions can also make engaging in such activities challenging. Classroom visits by scientists and visits with the general public are wonderful ways to connect with the community. However, such visits also require a considerable investment of time, effort, and other resources.

What if the public could get an authentic glimpse of the science that you do every day without the need for considerable additional effort? The Heising-Simons Foundation funded Shadow the Scientists (StS) initiative has a solution. StS synergizes with work that you are already doing to provide a genuine research experience for the general public, educators, and students. In this talk, we will explore how StS can further the connections between your work and the public through virtual engagement. I will discuss the benefits that hosting a StS session can bring to your work and/or that of your research group, how a session is run, the best practices for effectively hosting a ''shadow'' event, as well as the support the StS team can provide throughout the overall process. At the end of this talk, I will also discuss how StS can act as a gateway to other outreach and community building efforts, including those under the Creating Equity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (CrEST) family of programs of which StS is a part.

For Zoom connection information, please contact Emanuele Paolo Farina (emanuele.farina_at_noirlab.edu).

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