Seminar Schedule
Planetarians' Zoom Seminars
...are usually on the last Friday of the month at 11am or 2 pm Pacific Time. The seminars are recorded and archived. For connection URL, see the Zoom Online Seminar page. If you would like to do a presentation at a seminar, please contact PPA Treasurer, Alan Gould, with the following:
1. Possible date(s) for your presentation
2. A catchy Title
3. A brief description
4. A brief bio (who you are, where you work, 1-3 sentences)
Young Moon, 2.4% illuminated. Photo by Rich Ozer.
Upcoming Planetarians' Zoom Seminars
2023
Dates and times subject to alteration depending on availability of presenters.
2023 Dec 22 - 11am PST (19:00 UT) Building diverse collaborations, led by Jean Creighton. To make planetarium theaters more inclusive spaces, we are encouraged to develop meaningful, long-lasting partnerships in our communities. I will discuss three such collaborations that we have built at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Planetarium. These collaborations involve co-creating content with (1) six Nations of Wisconsin to highlight Indigenous cultures and languages of Wisconsin; (2) African American community leaders and artists as well as UWM African employees and students to share cultural perspectives and experiences; and (3) the Student Muslim Association and the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition to highlight the many important Islamic connections to the sky. These partnerships build over time and are wonderful ways to grow both professionally and personally. Stars have inspired Jean Creighton to study astronomy and to travel. She completed her BSc in Physics at the University of Athens, Greece, and crossed the Atlantic for a Masters Degree in Astronomy at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and for a PhD in astrophysics at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. She has been teaching astronomy at a variety of levels at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) since 1999. She has been enjoying directing the UWM Planetarium since 2007.
2024
Dates and times subject to alteration depending on availability of presenters.
2024 Jan 26 - 11am PST (19:00 UT). Polar Sciences in a Live Planetarium Show. At Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Earth: Pole to Pole was developed in 2018 to show general audiences key visuals about the Arctic and Antarctic, including historic trends of ice extent, oceanic temperatures and currents, and projected sea level rise from melting of the Greenland ice sheet. In this presentation, A.J. Balatico, a graduate student who collected surveys for learning sciences research, will discuss the design of the show and how it changed from its beginnings in 2018 to 2020 when Pacific Science Center closed due to the pandemic. He would also like feedback on future education research in planetariums. A.J. Balatico is a PhD candidate in Learning Sciences and Human Development at the University of Washington, Seattle with research interests in STEM and gifted education equity and access policies as well as formal and informal learning environments. He currently serves as the President of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate at UW. Before his doctoral program, A.J. was a public high school science teacher in Louisiana.
2024 Feb 23
2024 Mar 29
2024 Apr 26
2024 May 31
2024 Jun 28
2024 Jul 12 [IPS conference Berlin is July 18 – 26]
2024 Aug 30
2024 Sep 27
2024 Oct 25
2024 Nov 22 (week before Thanksgiving)
2024 Dec 22 (week before Christmas/Chanukah and 2 days before winter solstice)