Events

Small Town Universe - A Documentary
Film and guests introduction with Jill Tarter, co-founder of SETI Institute

Guests, Filmmaker Katie Dellamaggiore and Astrophysicist Ellie White

This is a special showing as part of the ASP2024
FREE and Open to the Public
YouTube link for the public is below.

Small Town Universe paints an intimate and captivating portrait of life in Green Bank, West Virginia, home to the world's most sensitive radio telescope and the only U.S. town where Wi-Fi and cell phones are banned. In this uniquely radio-quiet community, scientists use the telescope to search for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence and advance the field of radio astronomy while residents navigate through pivotal moments of existence, forming deep connections with the universe, science, and one another.

Guest Filmmaker and Director

Katie Dellamaggiore is an Emmy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker and commercial director. Her feature directorial debut, Brooklyn Castle, won the SXSW Audience Award, was a New York Times Critic's Pick, and was nationally broadcast by PBS's acclaimed POV series. At Courageous Studios, Warner Bros Discovery's branded content studio, Katie directs bold, culturally relevant premium storytelling for advertisers. She’s directed commercials for Delta, Sleep Number, Subaru, Hulu, Lego, The Salvation Army, Abbott, and Micron. Her recent work for Amica won the Digiday Best Brand Series award. Katie's latest feature, Small Town Universe, won the Global Health Competition Award at the Cleveland International Film Festival and is playing the film festival circuit.
Ellie White

Guest Astrophysicist

Ellie White (she/her) is a graduate student and longtime science geek. She is currently working on a Master's degree in Physics at Marshall University, where she also teaches introductory astronomy and physics classes. Through the years she has worked on research projects in the fields of astronomical instrumentation and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) with the Green Bank Observatory, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the UC Berkeley SETI Research Center, and the SETI Institute, for which she received the 2021 SETI Forward Award. Her other passions include astronomy and STEAM outreach and DEI efforts, and she is a founding member of the nonprofit, West Virginia Alliance for STEM and the Arts. In her free time, she likes spending time with her family, friends, and pets, enjoying the outdoors, baking obsessively, reading, and watching too many rom coms.

This documentary is Free and open to the public.

ASP2024 paid registrants will have the exclusive opportunity for Q&A with the Film Director and guest Astrophysicist from the documentary.

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