[This is one of a series of blog posts about our six-year involvement leading the NASA Heliophysics Science Education and Public Outreach Forum. ]

Only three weeks into my new job at UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Lab, I was invited to attend the NASA Science Mission Directorate Education/Public Outreach (SMD EPO) Forum retreat. This gathering, which was held in Colorado in conjunction with the Astronomical Society of the Pacific conference in 2010, brought together top heliophysics scientists and educators from around the United States.

As it turned out, this retreat not only initiated me into the heliophysics community, it also set the stage for my work collaborating with NASA scientists and educators for the next five years. The community of practice that was forged at this retreat provided the basis for learning about heliophysics content, getting connected into the latest NASA mission news and events, and sharing of ideas, best practices and research regarding educating students, teachers and the public about the wonders of NASA heliophysics science.