NSE Communication Lab Manager
MIT Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Erika Reinfeld (she/her/hers) joined the Comm Lab in 2023 after nearly ten years managing the public outreach program at MIT’s cancer research center. Prior to this, she developed and taught STEAM education programs for a wide range of audiences as the Education Coordinator at the MIT Museum and as an Education Specialist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Holding degrees in astronomy, theatre, and museum education, Erika is passionate about working across disciplines to tell science stories and equipping researchers with the tools they need to share their work with others. Favorite projects over the years have included a children’s musical about dark matter, nationally traveling exhibitions about cosmology and black holes, kinesthetic science-themed flash mobs, pop-up cancer research mini-golf, an exhibition of science-inspired teen fashion design, youth mentorship programs, and various investigations into the use of arts education frameworks to help lay audiences make sense of science imagery.
A great lover of puns, Erika is “particle-ularly” excited to be working with the Fellows and students of NSE in her dual role as Communication Lab Manager and science communications Lecturer. She lives north of Boston with her wife, children, and gerbils.