Project ASTRO: National Network

Each Project ASTRO™ National Network site represents a strong commitment on the part of a community or region to support improved science teaching and learning through astronomy. Each site is composed of a Lead Institution and a Local Coalition of supporters. Contact the local Site Coordinator (see map and site list below) for more information about Project ASTRO (and Family ASTRO) activities in your area. Click here to learn more about implementing a Project ASTRO site. Scroll down for more on Network Specifics.

Click here for a larger version of the image

2010 National Site Leaders' Meeting òÀÓ San Francisco, California Back Row (from left to right): Greg Schultz (Astronomical Society of the Pacific), Michele Pearson (Astronomical Society of the Pacific), James Manning (Astronomical Society of the Pacific), Phillip Blanco (Grossmont College/San Diego State University), Wil van der Veen (Raritan Valley College), Larry Cooper (NASA Science Mission Directorate) Middle Row (from left to right):Gerald Dobek (Northwestern Michigan College), Karen Vanlandingham (West Chester University), Rommel Miranda (Towson University), Dean Regas (Cincinnati Observatory Center), Brian Kruse (Astronomical Society of the Pacific) Front Row (from left to right):  Steve Pompea (National Optical Astronomy Observatory), Chuck Dugan (National Optical Astronomy Observatory), Janice Harvey (Gemini Observatory), Theresa Moody (Raritan Valley College)

Network Specifics

As mentioned above, each Project ASTRO National Network site is managed by a Lead Institution, which appoints a project Director and Coordinator. These local leaders are trained and supported by the National Project ASTRO Staff, and often by other members of the network as well. Each site also establishes and relies upon a Local Coalition of scientific and educational organizations to help the lead institution share the work, find financial and in-kind support, help put on regional programs for their educator-astronomer partners, and identify new partners.

In establishing the regional Project ASTRO coalitions, the national sites have brought together professional and amateur astronomy organizations, local observatories, planetariums, and science museums with school districts, community groups (e.g., 4H clubs, after-school programs, etc.), NASA Space Grant consortia, and other groups involved in improving science or technology education. At many sites, these institutions are finding other ways to work together as they get to know each other through Project ASTRO.

Lead Institutions and the communities they serve vary from site to site. In New Jersey for example, Raritan Valley Community College’s Planetarium staff have made Project ASTRO part of a larger program to improve science education in their area, along with other workshops and continuing education opportunities for local teachers. In Connecticut, the Wesleyan University Astronomy Department decided to serve the whole state. In Boston, the Center for Astrophysics, a major university-based research institute, is successfully sharing leadership duties with the Boston Museum of Science, and together, they serve an extremely large metropolitan area.

Project ASTRO National Network Site Map (Click on image to see a larger version)

The Project ASTRO National Network Sites

(please check the Family ASTRO list of sites for sites not listed here)

Arizona
Lead Institution: National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Arizona
Contact: dugan@noao.edu
Website: www.noao.edu/education/astrotucson.html

California (San Diego)
Lead Institution: San Diego State University, San Diego, California
Contact: pblanco@sciences.sdsu.edu
Website: http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/projectastro/

California (San Francisco Bay Area)
Lead Institution: Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco, California
Contact: bayareaastro {at} astrosociety.org
Website: www.astrosociety.org/baprojectastro.html

Colorado
Lead Institution: Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, Colorado
Contact: erin.wood@lasp.colorado.edu
Website: http://lasp.colorado.edu/education/cpag/

Connecticut
Lead institution: Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut
For information: astro {at} astrosociety.org

Hawaii
Lead Institution: Gemini Observatory (on the Big Island), Hilo, Hawaii
Contact: jharvey@gemini.edu
Website: www.gemini.edu/pio/

Illinois
Lead Institution: Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, Chicago, Illinois
For information: astro {at} astrosociety.org

Maryland
Lead Institution: Towson University and Maryland Science Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Contact: JeScott@towson.edu or rmiranda@towson.edu
Website: www.towson.edu/fcsm/community_engagement/ProjectASTRO/index.asp

Massachusetts
Lead Institutions: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics/Boston Museum of Science, Boston, Massachusetts
For information: astro {at} astrosociety.org

Michigan (and Northeast Wisconsin)
Lead Institution: Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City, Michigan
Contact: jdobek@nmc.edu
Website: www.nmc.edu/rogersobservatory/astro.html

Nevada
Lead Institution: Space Science for Schools, Incline Village, Nevada
Contact: pguttman@ss4s.org
Website: www.ss4s.org

New Jersey
Lead Institution: Raritan Valley Community College, Somerville, New Jersey
Contact: tmoody@raritanval.edu
Website: www.raritanval.edu/planetarium/astronova/

New Mexico
Lead Institution: New Mexico Museum of Space History, Alamogordo, New Mexico
For information: astro {at} astrosociety.org

New York
Lead Institution: Cradle of Aviation Museum, Garden City, New York
Contact: rangler@cradleofaviation.org
Website:  http://www.cradleofaviation.org/education/index.html

Ohio
Lead Institution (Cincinnati): Cincinnati Observatory Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati Contact: deanobservatory@zoomtown.com
Website: http://www.cincinnatiobservatory.org/forteachers.html

Lead Institution (Cleveland): Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland Contact: rkaelin@cmnh.org
Website: http://www.osgc.org/Programs.html#ProjectASTRO

Pennsylvania
Lead Institution: West Chester University, West Chester, Pennsylvania
Contact: kvanlandingham@wcupa.edu
Website: http://geology.wcupa.edu/project_astro

Texas
Lead Institution: University of Texas at Austin and McDonald Observatory, Austin, Texas
Contact: dfl@astro.as.utexas.edu
Website: http://spirit.as.utexas.edu/~dan/pastrotx/

Utah
Lead Institution: Hansen Planetarium, Salt Lake City, Utah
For information: astro {at} astrosociety.org

Washington
Lead Institution (Seattle): University of Washington
Lead Institution (Pullman): Washington State University
For information: astro {at} astrosociety.org

 

 

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