Meet the astronomers. See where they work. Know what they know.

The Project:

The Cosmic Diary is not just about astronomy. It's more about what it is like to be an astronomer.

The Cosmic Diary aims to put a human face on astronomy: professional scientists will blog in text and images about their lives, families, friends, hobbies and interests, as well as their work, their latest research findings and the challenges that face them. The bloggers represent a vibrant cross-section of female and male working astronomers from around the world, coming from five different continents. Outside the observatories, labs and offices they are musicians, mothers, photographers, athletes, amateur astronomers. At work, they are managers, observers, graduate students, grant proposers, instrument builders and data analysts.

Throughout this project, all the bloggers will be asked to explain one particular aspect of their work to the public. In a true exercise of science communication, these scientists will use easy-to-understand language to translate the nuts and bolts of their scientific research into a popular science article. This will be their challenge.

Task Group:

Mariana Barrosa (Portugal, ESO ePOD)
Nuno Marques (Portugal, Web Developer)
Lee Pullen (UK, Freelance Science Communicator)
André Roquette (Portugal, ESO ePOD)

Jack Oughton (UK, Freelance Science Communicator)
Alice Enevoldsen (USA, Pacific Science Center)
Alberto Krone Martins (Brazil, Uni. S. Paulo / Uni. Bordeaux)
Kevin Govender (South Africa, S. A. A. O.)
Avivah Yamani (Indonesia, Rigel Kentaurus)
Henri Boffin (Belgium, ESO ePOD)

Great group of students

Thanks for the encouragement. The first Astronomy for pre-education majors was great. The group is diverse: a nice mix of men and women, broad range of interests, ages, and backgrounds. I felt comfortable almost immediately; I suspect that it is partially because one of my assistants and I spent a lot of time this summer making sure that all assignments are purposefully placed and contribute to the stated learning goals for the course. Will report more as the semester proceeds.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 11:45 pm and is filed under Astronomy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About Me

Jean Creighton,
40 years old, born in Toronto, Canada

Biography:
Having always lived in large cities where lights drown out the stars, Jean soon learnt to appreciate the power of planetariums. Using them to observe the night sky she was inspired to pursue astronomy despite her school careers councillor claiming that her eyesight would never be good enough! As well as astronomy, Jean loves cooking and singing, and participates in a triathlon every year.

Place of work: Manfred Olson Planetarium at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is possibly best known for being the university attended by several of the main characters in the TV show Happy Days, with UWM banners also hanging inside the characters' regular hang-out at Arnold's Drive-In. In recent decades the University has expanded significantly, and it was voted as a “Gem of Milwaukee” by the public in 2006.

Location: Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA
Located on the south-western shore of Lake Michigan, USA, you will find Milwaukee. The city’s name comes from an Algonquian (a native American tribe) word which means "Beautiful Land". Formerly a manufacturing and brewing powerhouse, it was the home to four of the world's largest breweries and was the number one beer producing city in the world for decades.

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Meet the astronomers. See where they work. Know what they know.

The Project:

Task Group:

Great group of students

About Me

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