Molly Simon is the recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award for Fall 2013. Molly earned the award for her work as a GTA for Dr. Steve Kortenkamp's PTYS/ASTR 206 course. Molly is a first-year graduate student; her advisor is Assistant Professor Ilaria Pascucci.

Molly is recognized for going "above and beyond" in her work as a GTA. Students cited her passion for the subject and her compassion in communicating with them, as well as her willingness to extend office hours and respond promptly to queries.  Examples of her outstanding effort include:

• organizing a special project connecting students in the PTYS 206 class with the first annual Art of Planetary Science exhibition. One of those students received honorable mention in the fine arts category and her work was selected for display in the Tucson Museum of Art’s “Art on Tap” event.
• serving as a mentor to the undergraduate students, especially in regard to the class term project.  
• regularly participated in evening observing sessions with the LPL Dobsonian telescopes and working with student preceptors to ensure these sessions ran smoothly and were informative and interesting.

Recipients of the Outstanding GTA Award receive funds of up to $1,000 to support travel to a professional meeting of their choice.