The Astronomical Society of the Pacific, in collaboration with the Institute for Learning Innovation, will implement "Sharing the Universe." This research and implementation project is designed to include both a comprehensive, two-phased research component, as well as a large-scale national dissemination. The intended impacts are to improve the quality and effectiveness of informal science education activities provided by amateur astronomers; increase the frequency of public engagements in astronomy; and broaden the variety of events and diversity of the outreach to include underserved and underrepresented audiences. The project will create a community of practice using club leaders to improve astronomy clubs nationwide through research tools, training and outreach skills. Project deliverables include Phase I research which is designed to gain an understanding of how outreach-orientated clubs function and identify strategies that make successful clubs effective. Phase II will examine a core group of 20 clubs in detail to further understand the outreach culture while using interventions developed from the Phase I results such as a training DVD, Online Resource Library, Outreach Toolkit and a robust community of practice. The final deliverable will be the dissemination of proven strategies and best practices revealed by the research to 200 diverse astronomy clubs across the country. Strategic impact will be realized in increased outreach capacity among amateur astronomers and a strong model for astronomy clubs with proven best practices and resources. It is anticipated this project will reach more than 4,400 amateur astronomers and indirectly impact more than one million Americans in astronomy clubs in four years. Inverness Research will conduct the summative evaluation of the project.
The Great World Wide Starcount is a Windows to the Universe international citizen-science event that encourages everyone, astronomers and non-astronomers alike, to measure their local light pollution and report their observations online. The Great World Wide Star Count, part of the Dark Skies Awareness cornerstone project for the 2009 International Year of Astronomy, raises awareness about light pollution as well as encourages learning in astronomy. No prior experience is necessary and the downloadable activity guide is available in eight different languages on the Web site.
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University Corporation for Atmospheric ResearchSandra Henderson
Galaxy Zoo invites the public to help us explore the Universe by classifying galaxies according to their shape. Galaxy Zoo has already produced ten published or submitted research projects, and we've been successful in getting some of the world's largest telescopes - including Hubble - to follow up on unusual objects identified by Galaxy Zoo users. The site also has an active forum and blog for discussing the project and citizen science in general.
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Citizen Science AllianceChris Lintott