2007 ASP Annual Award Winners

Las Cumbres Amateur Outreach Award
Richard J. Smith
Space Science for Schools, Sparks, NV

The Las Cumbres Amateur Outreach Award, established by Wayne Rosing and Dorothy Largay, seeks to honor outstanding educational outreach by an amateur astronomer to K-12 children and the interested lay public.

Richard Smith's dynamism and enthusiasm for teaching astronomy and "inquiry based learning" has propelled Project ASTRO and Family ASTRO of Nevada to a level of excellence beyond expectation. His endeavors include: training undergraduate teachers at Sierra Nevada College to use Project ASTRO in their classrooms; developing materials for community and educational solar parties/star parties/astronomy classes in northern and rural Nevada; developing and teaching Family ASTRO to schools, community groups and families; and coordinating and presenting public outreach solar and star parties. In addition, he has conducted in-service teacher training/solar astronomy presentations in elementary and junior high classrooms, as well as the Indigenous People Institute. As one Project ASTRO participant remarked, "He has it all together – the science, the activities, the presentation skills, and the personality – to make learning from him a memorable treat."

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