Outreach

UF Astronomy

The UF Astronomy department reaches over 3,000 members of the public in and around Alachua County every year through a variety of outreach events throughout the school year and summer. From public nights at our on-campus observatory to visits to elementary, middle, and high schools near and far, our reach is truly astronomical (please forgive the pun).

UF Shines Solar

During the summers of 2023 and 2024, I led an outreach effort called “UF Shines Solar,” which is a collaboration between my advisor and two science camps for middle/high schoolers run by UF CPET. These camps allow students to explore several areas of science and art connected by a unifying theme (example from 2023: “light, landscapes, and lenses”).

For the astronomy portion of the camp, campers observe the Sun using special solar telescopes. My contribution to UF Shines involved giving presentations on the Sun and observing safety to the campers, along with taking care of email correspondence, program schedule development, and equipment setup, transportation, and operation. I organized a small group of volunteers for each event.

Starlab Portable Planetarium

The UF Astronomy department owns a two portable planetariums that we tour around to elementary and middle schools both within Alachua County and beyond. I was involved with revitalizing this program after the pandemic prevented visits and have coined the name UF AMP (Astronomy Mobile Planetarium) for the program.

Sound cool? If you would like UF AMP to visit your school, please contact us at: ufastro.outreach@astro.ufl.edu