Public Outreach

Chip Kobulnicky

Below is a non-exhaustive summary of some recent outreach activities.

Wyoming REU : College students come to Wyoming every summer to work with astronomers and use telescopes as part of the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates program.

Wyoming Astro Camp : Astro Camp is a living/learning community of teachers and students from Wyoming (mostly) engaged in astronomy and space related research and educational activities for several weekends each summer on the UW campus. Wyoming Astro Camp is supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation. The first Wyoming Astro Camp occured in the summer of 2003.

Universe in the Park 2000: Astronomers from the University of Wisconsin spend summer evenings camping out with telescopes in state parks throughout Wisconsin. This summer, I enjoyed camping by the shore of Lake Michigan and sharing the wonders of the summer sky with park visitors.

Project Astro 1998-1999: Project Astro is an educational partnership between astronomers and public school teachers & students organized by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Ideally, the partnership involves a series regular classroom visits by the astronomer in order to make a lasting impact on the quality of science education by providing encouragement and outside expertise for the teacher and a positive experience in science for the students.

Newton's Apple: I have served as a scientific consultant for the PBS educational science series, Newton's Apple

Undergraduate Research at the College of St. Catherine: From 1994-1997 I maintained a partnership with the College of St. Catherine Physics Department, serving as an astronomer research advisor for undergraduate students wishing to conduct observational astronomy experiments and gain experience with telescopes.

Graduate Student Development: In 1993 and 1994 I was the co-organizer of the Grain Elevators and the Cosmos Graduate Student Conferences

Model the World Day: In 1994, 10,000 school children descended upon the University of Minnesota campus to assemble a 1/millionth scale model of the Earth which they researched and painted in exquisite detail. I was a classroom volunteer helping the students learn about maps scales, geography, and such as they researched and painted their piece of the 5000-piece globe. That's me under one of those hard hats!

Public Outreach Manual: I maintain a public outreach resource manual for students and faculty at Minnesota to use when preparing for public presentations.

Talks in Public Schools