FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 4, 2011
Contact:Debbie Rich
Tucson- Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona’s staff scientist, Dr. Larry Lebofsky, has been selected to present his poster abstract at the 219th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin, Texas this coming January. Lebofsky, former director of the Planetary Sciences Institute and now a Girl Scout, will make his presentation, “Bringing Astronomy Activities and Science Content to Girls Locally and Nationally: A Girl Scouts and NIRCam Collaboration” during the Astronomy in Middle and High Schools portion of the event. More than a dozen prize and invited talks will be given and more than 1,550 oral and poster presentations will be made during the week long event.
The accepted poster displays a variety of the activities he has worked on during his partnership with the Girl Scouts including scale models of the Solar System and beyond, classifying Solar System objects, a portable human orrey, observing the night sky with and without telescopes, constellation transformations, and constellation sorting cards.
Dr. Lebofksy’s work with Girl Scouts began in 2003 when the University of Arizona’s NASA James Webb Space Telescope team and the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona began a long- term collaboration to bring astronomy activities and concepts to Girl Scout leaders, staff, and volunteers and, in turn, to their councils and girls. To date, the program has brought together leaders, University of Arizona graduate students,
scientists, educators and the public to experience Arizona’s dark skies. Most recently, Girl Scouts has entered into a partnership with Amphitheater School District to emphasize Family Science and Astronomy Nights- a series of interconnected activities that can be done in classrooms, afterschool programs, or in summer astronomy camps.
Debbie Rich, Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona’s CEO, couldn’t be more excited by the news, “Dr. Lebofsky’s contributions to Girl Scouts have been immense. At Girl Scouts we work to build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. His work has allowed girls to have hands-on experiences with science and has empowered them to become leaders who are excited about the night sky.”
To learn more about the American Astronomical Society, please visit aas.org
