Volunteer Network
The Planetary Society's
Global Volunteer Network Newsletter
Fall 2004
September - December
Dear Planetary Society Volunteers,
As the Society approaches its 25th year, we look back on all that's
been accomplished. In 2004, over 85 events took place all over the
globe. Below I have highlighted the activities of eight volunteers
or volunteer networks. I hope their reports will inspire other volunteers
to organize events. With your help, we have reached many thousands
of people. Some are space enthusiasts, others are just becoming aware
of the potential that lies ahead as we explore our solar system, search
for intelligent life in the universe or for near earth objects which
could one day bring harm to our fragile planet.
In the past three months, thirteen new volunteers have joined the
Global Volunteer network. They come from France, India, Mexico, the
United Kingdom and the United States. I enjoy working with all of you
so much. What a pleasure it is to have friends all over the globe!
Your support and enthusiasm are very much appreciated by Vilia Zmuidzinas,
Events & Volunteer Coordinator, me, and the entire Society staff.
We enjoy your emails, event ideas, appreciate your hard work in promoting
membership, and look forward to working with you in the future!
- Lonny Baker, Global Volunteer Leader
Volunteer Activities
• Arizona
• Australia
• Brazil
• India
• New Jersey
• Northern California
• Southern California
• Spain
Volunteer Testimonial Ernesto Magana
(Mexico)
Interesting Web Links
Volunteer Opportunities and Ideas
Volunteer Activities
• Arizona - Three Phoenix area members joined the Volunteer Network
and we immediately put them to work. Ray Poulsen represented us
at CopperCon in September, and Janice Masterson and Ray distributed
Society materials at Arizona State University's Earth Science Day
in October. This day was organized by volunteer Veronica Ann Zabala
who works at ASU's Planetary Geology Group.
• Australia - Kevin Welsh, Regional Coordinator, organized a free public
lecture at the University of Melbourne, featuring Dr. Nick Hoffman,
a well-known Mars expert. He presented the latest results from the
Mars rovers and showed many orbital and surface images of our planetary
neighbor.
• Brazil - José Roberto
V. Costa, our Brazil Regional Coordinator, presented a paper on
the Solar Sail project and the Society's upcoming 25th Anniversary
at the 7th ENAST Conference. He arranged for all participants to
receive a special membership offer and distributed Planetary Reports,
bookmarks and stickers. A beautiful Society banner that José made
was hung at the entrance. More
information about the Society in Brazil.
• India - At the 24th Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS) Annual
Convention held in Jaipur in November 2004, our India Regional Coordinator,
Amrut Yalagi, presented a paper on Cosmos1: First Solar Sail.
• New Jersey - Ken Kremer has created Power Point presentations on Mars
and the Cassini mission for a series of talks given at his public library,
local elementary school, a Winter Festival held at a Nature Preserve
and to the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton (AAAP). Talks
included "Exploring Mars, Saturn and Beyond", "Birth
of a Martian Robot", and "Highlights from the current robotic
Missions to Mars and Saturn". To his presentations he brings his
homemade models of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Space Station, Mars
Exploration Rovers, which can be driven over a simulated "Martian
Rock Garden". Ken has also adapted other Power Point presentations
designed by the Society. He always encourages listeners to join the
Society and is often provided with a special membership offer. Ken
provided the AAAP's webmaster many links on the Society web pages relating
to his presentation. Volunteers might use this example as they collaborate
with other organizations that have websites.
• Northern California - The Bay Area Volunteers were kept very busy
this Fall. They organized a panel discussion with NASA and JPL scientists
on the subject of planetary cross-contamination. They also represented
the Society at three other events: the annual American Geophysical
Union's Carl Sagan Memorial lecture, the W Foundation's exhibit of
Russian space artifacts, and Wonderfest, a two day festival of lectures
that took place at Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley. Hard
working volunteer, Matt Lucking, coordinated the volunteers over six
days and five venues. They sold many memberships and even gained five
new volunteers!
• Southern California -
Aban Daruwalla who, like all our volunteers, finds time in her busy
schedule to make many presentations to school and community groups,
promoting science and exciting technology events. Last year, she distributed
a lot of educational materials to school children.
The Pasadena volunteers,
led by Regional Coordinator Anna May Tomaszewski, worked alongside
Society staff members at a booth at the Beam Me Up Scotty weekend
event in Hollywood. They sold 24 memberships to visitors who took home
a SETI poster as their new membership premium.
• Spain - Jesus Martinez Frias, Regional Coordinator of Spain,
in conjunction with the “Centro de Astrobiologia” and the
Spanish Association of Geologists organized a tribute to Dr. Carl Sagan
on the 70th anniversary of his birth. Scientific talks, panel discussions,
and exhibits were presented in four cities - Madrid, Cuenca, Valladolid,
and Granada. Jesus prepared a power point presentation on Dr. Sagan.
The discussions included Mars, Titan, space exploration, the origin
of life, and extraterrestrial life. The event in Granada coincided
with the birthday of Dr. Sagan and the venue included an exhibition
about Mars: "Objetivo Marte". Spanish newspapers (El Pais,
El Mundo, ABC, La Razon) published news about the tribute. In his report
to the Society, Jesus said "this was an extraordinary experience
for me contacting children, old people, mass media, scientists and
many people who love the figure of Carl Sagan."
Volunteer Testimonial
Ernesto
Magana (Mexico) wrote to tell us how important Planetary Society
volunteers can be in a country that puts little emphasis on astronomy
education. He
writes "I look forward to being
able to assist in whatever way I can to increase the understanding
and encouragement of all space sciences and investigations. I
would have liked it if, when I was young, someone had come and
told us about space exploration and its possibilities. I would very
much like to be able to do this and encourage kids and their teachers
to dedicate some of their time to learn more about space and
its applied sciences and technologies. In my home town of Guadalajara,
and most of Mexico, the interest in space exploration is not
very high. Schools do not encourage it or promote it. Perhaps this
is so because of lack of knowledge of the teachers." Ernesto is
interested in making displays and posters to take to schools.
Interesting Web Links
Deep Impact On
July 4, 2005, the Deep Impact spacecraft arrives at Comet Tempel 1
to impact it with a 370-kg (~820-lbs) impactor spacecraft. On impact,
a crater will be produced expected to range in size from that of a
house to that of a football stadium, and two to fourteen stories deep.
Ice and dust debris will be ejected from the crater revealing fresh
material beneath. The effects of the collision with the comet will
be observable from certain locations on Earth and in some cases with
smaller telescopes. To learn more about this mission, visit http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html .
You'll find information on the mission, educational materials and sites
in Spanish, Portuguese and German. If you were a Society member
in January 2004, your name has been recorded on a disc mounted on the
impactor spacecraft. You can print out a personalized certificate
commemorating your participation by visiting http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/sendyourname/
More Power with Power Point If you are involved in giving presentations,
consider giving a Power Point presentation. The Society has prepared
several that you may use, including an overview of the Society
(mostly text), and two others on Mars and Saturn (mostly images).
Several volunteers have developed their own presentations and had
them approved by the Society. Many volunteers have used material
found on our web site to create posters, Power
Point presentations and handout materials. You are encouraged to
use any and all materials, but you must credit the source, be it
The Planetary Society , NASA, JPL, ESA, etc. Please send all such products
to the Society for review and approval before being distributed.
Weaving a New Web The Planetary Society has been working on a new
web design, to be unveiled by the middle of 2005. We will provide each
Volunteer Network with a template or guidelines so they may redesign
their own Planetary Society website to be compatible with the Society's
home page.
Volunteer Opportunities and Ideas
Volunteers
met the Chair when Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, now Chairman of The
Planetary Society Board of Directors, took a tour of the United
States to promote his NOVA television series and companion book "Origins:
Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution", volunteers in California,
Illinois, and Massachusetts were called upon to meet him and
assist at the bookstores. Volunteers reported they especially
enjoyed the opportunity to meet with Dr. Tyson and that he expressed
much interest in the activities of the Volunteers and appreciation
for all the support they give the Society.
Planetary Radio Southern California volunteer Roger Johnson, who runs
an independent radio station, contacted the Society to see if he
could air Planetary Radio's weekly webcast. Roger was introduced
to Mat Kaplan, host and producer of the program, who made arrangements
for him to carry the show. A growing number of radio stations are
carrying the program. Volunteers are encouraged to contact their
local radio station and request Planetary Radio be aired locally.
To learn more about how you can bring this program to a public
radio station near you visit Planetary
Radio.
Gratis Framing: When Karen Sulprizio (Florida) took her "Pale
Blue Dot" poster down to her local picture framer, she asked him
to donate a simple frame. She told him that The Planetary Society had
donated the poster and if he would frame the poster for free he could
put his company sticker on the back of the poster. The owner/operator
was very happy to assist her volunteer efforts. Karen says: "It's
astounding how local companies open their hearts for these things!
It can be done in a dignified way - by simply introducing yourself
and being straight forward."
We Make Our Membership Grow As we celebrate our 25th year during 2005,
The Planetary Society welcomes your suggestions on how to reach new
members. Attending a star party, science conference, astronomy festival?
Your enthusiasm for the work of the Society is very important when
speaking to the public. We'll provide you with Planetary Reports, bookmarks,
stickers, posters and membership forms. We often offer a special gift
for memberships purchased at an event.
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