GLAS Education

Community Education and Outreach. Outreach to the local community through public star parties with telescopes and educational activities, public and private presentations (such as at libraries or to community groups), internships in astronomy, education, physics, and engineering for undergraduates; and other similar outreach programs.

LENSS. The LENSS project supports students in learning engineering and coding skills while increasing knowledge and awareness of the health of nearby Geneva Lake. LENSS is led by local high-school students working in teams, mentored over multiple years by STEM professionals and sharing knowledge and experience with each other. Students create custom sensors, mounting them along the lake shore, and collect and analyze a variety of data that they provide. This information is then made available to the public, inviting community-based environmental action. Students learn invaluable engineering and programming skills through sensor design and development, gain experience in data management as they collect and analyze information from their sensors, and learn functional marketing, public outreach, and graphic design skills as they bring the project and their results to their communities.

Accessibility Projects. This includes consulting with other organizations to improve accessibility of their tools and programs for audiences of diverse abilities, particularly blind or visually impaired (BVI) and deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) audiences. GLAS also leads accessibility networking activities, such as meetings for researchers, educators, and professionals in disability access, to improve the reach and efficiency of accessibility inclusion projects.

Dark Skies Office. The Dark Skies Office at GLAS Education coordinates efforts to reduce light pollution in our community. Working with policy-makers, local organizations, interns, students, and many volunteers, the Dark Skies Office is on its way towards reforming light ordinances and raising public awareness of the benefits of our shared resource: a truly dark sky. Additionally, the Dark Skies Office is pursuing formal International Dark-Sky Association recognition as an Urban Night Sky Place for Williams Bay's Kishwauketoe Nature Conservatory. An Urban Night Sky Place designation is awarded to places surrounded by large urban areas whose planning actively promotes the night sky despite the artificial light pollution nearby.

NA-ROAD. The North American Regional Office of Astronomy for Development leverages astronomy to help bring resources and opportunities to underserved communities in their geographic area. The NA-ROAD is currently set to pursue five specific goals. (1) Science for diplomacy, connecting individual efforts around the globe to achieve the largest, sustainable impacts. (2) Astronomy and astronomy facilities/resources to support economic development. (3) Astronomy to facilitate STEM education and outreach. (4) Promote productive employment opportunities and sustained career pathways for adults in astronomy. (5) Advance the collaboration and sharing of astronomical knowledge to promote connections with and to support Indigenous communities.