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The Planetary Society's
Global Volunteer Network Newsletter
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January - December 2006
Dear Planetary Society Volunteers,
This 2006 Newsletter is being written from the perspective of mid-2007. To look back upon the accomplishments of our volunteers over a full year is quite an impressive exercise. You, our volunteers, created or supported Society events all over the world. Through presentations in schools, libraries, and museums, or outdoors at star parties and national parks, you’ve excited children and adults alike about the accomplishments of the Society, celebrated the missions of NASA and the European Space Agency, and helped us dedicate the first optical telescope to search for the light from an alien civilization (OSETI). Through your efforts, we have also seen the Society membership grow, and for that we are always appreciative.
In 2006, many of us were sad to see Vilia Zmuidzinas leave, but soon her ”shoes were filled” by Rita Szeto. If you have not yet “met” Rita, write her at tps.rs@planetary.org, she’d love to hear from you. She and I look forward to working with you in the future.
I hope you’ve taken the opportunity to visit the new Society website http://www.planetary.org. There is so much good information to help you plan presentations. You can download articles and pictures – we just ask that you credit The Planetary Society. When the new website became “active”, I discovered that all the Global Volunteer Newsletters had been lost during the transition. Slowly, we’ve reconstructed the old newsletters and added new ones. I hope you’ll go back and read them as the ideas for volunteer activities are as applicable today and in the future as when they were first presented.
I hope the Volunteer Activities reported below inspire you to create a program of your own. Rita and I are here to help you. You do so much for the Society; please let us know what we can do for you!
- Lonny Baker, Global Volunteer Leader
Volunteer Activities
• Argentina
• Arizona
• Colorado
• Florida
• Ireland
• Italy
• Massachusetts
• Netherlands
• New Jersey
• Northern California
• Southern California
Volunteer Activities
• Argentina
We love it when volunteers work together! At our suggestion, Alejandro Manrique of Argentina contacted Jesús Martínez-Frias in Spain who promptly offered to publish Alejandro’s article celebrating the 25th anniversary of The Planetary Society at his website. We invite all Spanish speakers to read the article at http://tierra.rediris.es/merge/tps-spain/documentos/AManriqueTPS.pdf
This is a wonderful example of our Global Volunteers working together to inform the world about the Society. Muchos Gracias Alejandro and Jesús! Alejandro wrote, “My first published article appeared in the magazine Muy Interesante (Argentine edition) in December 1997 and was about the life and work of Carl Sagan, one year after his demise.” More recently Alejandro has published a series of articles on astronomy and space exploration where the Society is involved or has a vital role. Visit
http://www.llave.connmed.com.ar/portalnoticias_vernoticia.php?codigonoticia=9213 to read about Project BOINC and
http://www.llave.connmed.com.ar/portalnoticias_vernoticia.php?codigonoticia=9475 to read about OSETI - the new optical telescope designed solely to detect light signals from alien civilizations, operated by Harvard and sponsored by The Planetary Society. To read other Society related articles visit http://www.agenciacyta.com.ar and type in "Sociedad Planetaria" in the search box at the bottom of the page.
• Arizona
In July, Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto held an organizational meeting of The Planetary Society Arizona Volunteer Network. Six Society members from the Phoenix area attended. We are pleased to welcome Steve Dermer, Nai’la Erwin, Graydon Griffin, Stacy Sklar, and Josh and Suzanne Spradling as our newest Arizona volunteers. Volunteer Patrick Lonchar also attended. Veronica Ann’s PowerPoint presentation described many of the Society’s projects and she was able to hand out educational materials on a variety of missions in which the Society is involved, such as Stardust, Cassini, and the Mars Exploration Rovers. Several of the members/volunteers had not visited the Society’s website, http://www.planetary.org, in some time. Using her computer and a wireless link, she was able to give a tour of the website and showed where to go for interesting project information. Veronica Ann would be delighted to share her PowerPoint presentation with any volunteer who would like to do a similar presentation. A follow-up meeting was held in October.
In September, Veronica Ann, Stacy Sklar, and Ray Poulsen represented the Society at CopperCon, a science fiction convention which also attracts a large number of science “fans” as well. Many Society members visited the table and expressed an interest in joining the Arizona Volunteer Network. Stacy also represented the Society at the Flagstaff Festival of Science.
• Colorado
Marge Currie and Ed Ludka represented the Society on Astronomy Day in October at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
New volunteer Dale Moser began representing the Society almost before the ink dried on his volunteer application. Dale enjoys traveling, and, in the course of the summer, he visited numerous star parties and national parks in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, distributing Society materials wherever he found a group of people interested in astronomy. In addition to these activities, Dale represented the Society at the Fiske Planetarium on Astronomy Day in October and at the Transit of Mercury observation in November.
• Florida
Karen Sulprizio, was again a judge for the Sarasota County School District Science Exhibits. On behalf of The Planetary Society, she presented two winners the Explorers Guide to Mars poster and an Award Certificate of her own design. The poster is full of great information on Mars and was created by the Society to be given to schools and students for educational purposes.
Special thanks and congratulations to Karen and Thomas Prettyman who worked together in cyberspace to create the Florida Volunteer Network website TPSFlorida.org. This site highlights astronomy and Planetary Society activities in Florida and should be of special interest to anyone visiting Florida, NASA Kennedy Space Center, or Cape Canaveral. Karen and Thomas would be happy to share their template with any volunteers interested in creating a new website or converting their old Planetary Society volunteer website to a new updated format. Their contact information is on the website.
• Ireland
Kevin Nolan reports that he “continues to plug away with TPS representation.” He gave two talks to astronomy clubs and visited four primary schools where he always presents an overview of the Society. He has also managed to “penetrate the media” a little; the science-editor for The Irish Times contacted Kevin about a planetary science story and to inquire if he could regard Kevin as a contact for future stories – as a representative of The Planetary Society, which is always mentioned. Kevin wrote, “There's increasing interest in my country for space science – science activity in general is increasingly seen as part of our nation’s future - and there is no doubt that with more effort on my part, TPS could play an important role in terms of advocacy and outreach.” The Society will support Kevin’s efforts as we do all volunteers.
• Italy
Elia Cozzi gave two lectures during the year. The first, in March, was “The Tenth Planet: what is there beyond Pluto?” presented at the Legnano Astronomical Observatory. In May, he presented, in cooperation with Genoa amateur astronomer association, Associazione Ligure Astrofili Polaris, “Voyage to the Border of the Solar System”. Fifty to 100 people attended the lectures. Elia wrote “the events were advertised on the website of the local amateur astronomer associations and in local newspapers. In Legnano, the inclusion of the lectures in The Planetary Society Events Calendar was a good reason for pride for the Associazione and for the government of the City of Legnano. At the beginning and at the end of each lecture we let the people know about the activities of The Planetary Society to promote space and planetary exploration.”
Luca teaches school children about their place in the Universe
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As soon as Luca Scantamburio became a volunteer he gave three talks to schoolchildren at a bookstore in Treviso. “Italian children are very interested in space exploration. I used a Powerpoint file on my laptop that I had prepared for the occasion. I explained to them the structure of the solar system and what the comets, the asteroids, and the stars are. Also, I have talked about nebulae and galaxies.” The children all received Planetary Society bookmarks.
• Massachusetts – In April, Gina Schraut helped the Society organize the day of activities surrounding the dedication of the first Optical SETI (OSETI) telescope designed to search for light signals from alien civilizations. The telescope was funded in large part by the Society and was built at the Oak Ridge Observatory, in Harvard, Massachusetts. The speakers included Observatory Director Paul Horowitz, Planetary Society Board Chair Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Society Executive Director Louis Friedman. Gina was assisted at the event by volunteers Todd Sullivan (Connecticut) and Vida Haririan (Massachusetts)
• Netherlands – In March, Arno Wielders organized "Comet Hunt" – an evening symposium in honor of the 20th anniversary of the visit of the European spacecraft Giotto to the comet Halley. The results of the Giotto mission were discussed, as well as the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta mission, currently on its 10-year journey to the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Over half the attendees were Society members.
In September, Arno organized the ExoMars symposium about the European Space Agency’s new mission to the planet Mars. ExoMars will deliver, for the first time in European spaceflight history, a rover to the surface of another celestial body equipped with instrumentation to look for life or traces of extinct life. The evening symposium featured two speakers, both deeply involved in the ExoMars mission. The program was organized on behalf of The Planetary Society and in cooperation with the Dutch Association for Spaceflight. The evening symposium was hosted by Dutch Space in Leiden. Arno reported, “It was a great success, we had over 60 participants, which is really good by Dutch standards”.
• New Jersey - Ken Kremer continued his one-man traveling astronomy lecture program where he promotes the work of the Society. During the year he spoke to numerous groups of students and adults at such diverse locations as elementary schools, astronomy clubs, the Franklin Institute Science Museum, and the State Park Interpretive Center. During his talks, "Exploring Mars, the Search for Life and a Journey in 3-D", he discussed the ongoing NASA Mars Rover Mission in addition to leading the audience on a 3-D journey to Mars and Saturn. 3-D glasses were provided. Ken’s talks often include hands-on activities and he always gives out Planetary Reports and bookmarks to his eager audience. A delightful picture collage, prepared by the Amateur Astronomers, Inc. Astronomy Club can be found at http://www.asterism.org/happen/gifs/aaioct2006.jpg
• Northern California – Under the leadership of Matt Lucking, the Bay Area Volunteer Network (TPSBAVN) organized or participated in a record four events this year. In February, nine volunteers set up an information table and sold memberships at the NASA Astrobiology Institute Europa Focus Group panel discussion moderated by the Society’s Projects Director Bruce Betts and featuring a stellar array of planetary scientists. In May, TPSBAVN organized a lecture by Dr. Leonard Susskind, noted string theorist, on the topic "The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design." The Randall Museum, in San Francisco, cosponsored the event and donated its auditorium. In October, it was back to NASA/Ames for the Sally Ride Science Festival, where two books by former TPS staffer, Melanie Knocke, were offered as a membership premium. Finally, in November, WonderFest, co-sponsored by the Society, drew volunteers and the public to two days of lectures at Stanford University and the University of California-Berkeley. The group conducted successful membership drives at each event. Many thanks to Matt, Tracy Avent, Walt Bodley, Barbara Bowman, Noelle Filippenko, Nancy Freitas, Todd Hansen, Alys Hays, David Mark, John Nolan, Cindy Pavlinac and Marty Gregory, Barb Raskin, Tammy Ross, Ron Peterson, and Mark Siegel for your many hours of volunteer work.
• Southern California – Mary Brown, a long-time dedicated Pasadena volunteer started a second volunteer group interested in taking the Society’s telescope to public events throughout the Pasadena area. The group maintains the telescope and enjoys sharing the wonders of the evening sky at venues as diverse as public libraries and the grounds of the Griffith Observatory.
Charlie Shawl represented The Planetary Society at the San Diego Aerospace Museum’s 3rd Annual Space Day, in May. He created a computerized slide show that drew a lot of attention.
Spotlight on Volunteer
Aban Daruwalla recently retired from her Civil Service job in Southern California and was honored at a retirement party, the theme of which was “Mission to Mars”. Aban devoted many years to the interests of the Society by working with students to promote science and technology. She was a volunteer even before the Mission to Mars program began. We asked her to recall some of her experiences as a volunteer. She wrote, “with that project I got more involved and promoted it in the school districts and the community college in the Inland Empire. I participated in various aspects of the Mission to Mars Program at the time of several International Student Competitions. I publicized Send Your Name to Mars in local school districts, addressed student assemblies and encouraged teachers to help their students to participate in those competitions. I volunteered at each Planetfest and Wild About Mars, and brought bus loads of students to experience the Planetfests. I obtained Society posters, booklets, and bookmarks by the truck load and distributed them at the annual Armed Forces Day. Thousands of students and teachers benefited from The Planetary Society materials donated for the conferences, seminars, and small group visits that I coordinated in the last 12-13 years. A win-win situation was created by these efforts for the Inland Empire School Districts and The Planetary Society. The Society can encourage other school districts to promote science and technology in a similar manner and among more students. Encourage other school districts to follow the example of the Inland Empire School Districts which benefited teachers and students, TPS experienced an increase in their membership as well as an interest among the public for more science events. I intend to continue to work with the Society work after I retire.”
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