Half the Park is After Dark(TM) Training
State and national parks offer some of the darkest night skies that park visitors from all over the world have easy access to. For the last twenty years, the US National Park Service has identified night sky programs as their most popular evening ranger programs and that starry skies are an integral part of what visitors expect to see during park visits. For the 2016 Centennial of the NPS, “starry starry skies” were listed as one of the top 10 priorities for the next century of the US national park system. It is for these reasons that I describe half the park is after dark and work with park rangers from all over the country to instill this sentiment in park interpretation to the public. For 17 years I was a university astronomy professor. Today, I bring that experience to training the astronomy educators on the front lines of public science education: national and state parks. I train national park rangers to give night sky programs as part of the National Park Service Night Sky Academy. I also offer my services to produce educational audio and video recordings in astronomy for educational and entertainment purposes showcasing the statement that Half the Park is After Dark(TM).
Skills that park rangers were develop as a result of attending these training sessions offered twice a year, include:
Identify constellations and run a constellation tour for the public
Understand when stars and constellations rise, how they move across the sky, and set.
Use of a planisphere, and other software to predict what will be visible in the sky at any time on any night.
Set up, align, and use a telescope.
Construct a night sky program including objects in the sky and connecting them to aspects of a participant’s park
Clearly communicate to the public the importance of dark skies to parks and people and how park’s protect the natural views of night skies.
In 2010, I coined the term Half the Park is After Dark(TM), and it has become the defining statement of my work with national parks in the form of a series of 1930s WPA-style posters advertising the national park service’s dark-sky programming, and through my continued training programs to park rangers to insure unimpaired vies of naturally starry skies for the public for years to come.
Go For the Sun, Stay for the Stars(TM) Training
Beginning in 2015, in anticipation of total solar eclipses occurring in 2017, and again in 2024, I have also included in this training the statement that visitors to select state and national parks in the US should Go for the Sun, Stay for the Stars. Total solar eclipses happen at New Moon, when the moon passes between the Earth and Sun. During both the Great American Eclipse in 2017 and again in 2024, visitors to parks in the path of these eclipses will get to see a rare and beautiful phenomenon by day, then stay and see naturally beautiful starry skies at night. I therefore now offer my services producing educational audio and video recordings in the field of astronomy for educational and entertainment purposes; Educational services, namely, presenting workshops and training in the field of astronomy; Presenting workshops and training in the field of astronomy for state and national park rangers and astronomy educators; Amusement and educational services, namely, presenting astronomy festivals; Presenting astronomy festivals in state and national parks and other outdoor venues