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Outreach Overview

The members of the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics are very active in outreach. Astronomy & Astrophysics is an area that naturally captures the public's imagination and we capitalize on this interest with a host of efforts. Our programs appeal to many different audiences, with a special emphasis on long term efforts within the local community. Our outreach activities range from working directly with local high school students to developing museum exhibits to appearing in NOVA programs. There is a mixture of individual efforts, concerted programming by larger research initiatives, and active collaborations and partnerships. Our strong connection with the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum is particularly notable. This breadth and variety means that there are many ways to be involved at many different levels. Another notable strength of our outreach efforts is that the department has a Director of Public Outreach, Randy Landsberg, to catalyze and support our endeavors.

Outreach Programs

• Space Explorers Program (K-12)
• CPS/UofC Internet Project (CUIP)
• Science and Technology Outreach and Mentoring Program (S.T.O.M.P.)
• Sloan Digital Sky Survey Sky Server
• Apache Point Observatory's 3.5-meter and the Public
• Cosmus: Open Source Science Outreach
• Undergraduate Research Experiences
• Women in Physics and Astronomy (WAP)
• Cosmology Short Courses
• Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum Partnership
• Yerkes Observatory
• Local museums
• Visualization Efforts

Outreach Archives

Outreach News, Notes & Calendar

• Argonne Open House, 7 October 2006
• The 64^th Compton Lecture Series, by Brian Odom, 23 September - 18 November 2006
• Yerkes Summer Institute: 'Sink or Swim: Exploring Buoyancy & Density', 5-11 August 2006

• Public Panel, Symposium: "New Views of the Universe", 12 December 2005, Harris Theater in Chicago's Millennium Park
• The 62^th Compton Lecture Series, "Challenges to Seeing the Invisible: Foregrounds and Backgrounds in the Scientific Exploration of the Universe" by Dorothea Samtleben, 1 October 2005
• Visualization of Astrophysical Data: Bringing Together Science, Art, and Education, Workshop, 25-27 May 2005, Chicago
• The 61^th Compton Lecture Series, "The Story of Galaxy Formation in our Universe" by Risa H. Wechsler, 16 April - 4 June 2005

Awards

• Donn MacMinn Award for Service Beyond the Walls of the University

Larger University of Chicago Associated Research Programs with Education & Outreach Efforts

• KICP, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics
• ASC Flash Center
• JINA, Joint Instute for Nuclear Astrophysics
• AUGER, Pierre Auger Observatory
• VERITAS, Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System
• SDSS, Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• FNAL, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
• SPT, South Pole Telescope