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Speaker Night – Bruce Waters
April 24 @ 20:00 - 22:00
Working across Organizations and Continents to Boost Astronomy Education
Talk Synopsis
Bruce’s presentation will be on how connecting ourselves to the stars also connects us to each other and his experiences in collaborating with various institutions and, most recently, the Barbados Astronomical Society and the Harry Bayley Observatory.
Bio: Bruce Waters became fascinated in astronomy and space science in the late 60s from watching the Apollo Moon landings, at a time when one could still see the Milky Way from northern Toronto. He joined the RASC in 1976 and has been teaching astronomy to the public since 1981. He worked at the McLaughlin Planetarium for 11 years as star theatre operator, producer and educator and ran the last public star show on October 13th 1995.
Since then he has:
- co-founded the Killarney Provincial Park Observatory featuring 2 domes and 3 telescopes (2010) including a 16″ Meade LX600
- authored “A camper’s guide to the universe” (2011)
- worked with Ontario Parks to launch their first Dark Sky Preserve (2018) and produced poetry for the occasion
Stars as seen in midnight’s gaze
Stars shining upon shoreline’s haze
Guiding us, teaching us with stories manifold
About ourselves, stars speak, from birth till old.
Their permanence ties us to days gone by
But to hide their secrets, they still do try
To gaze upon them brings dreams of futures bright
But to see them vanish, is to lose much delight.
- authored Ontario Parks’ monthly astronomy blog – Eyes on the Skies from 2018 through 2025.
- co-founded Stars over Killarney – an semi-annual astronomy program featuring topics that connect to the Park (2018),
- and co-founded the Allan I. Carswell Observatory and Killarney Provincial Park Astronomer in Residence Program (2021)
Bruce thrives on collaboration and enjoys connecting organizations and individuals institutions to deliver the best quality astronomy education possible including: Science North, the Allen I Carswell Observatory, Ontario Science Centre, and the Harry Bayley Observatory, to name a few.
Banner Credit: Harry Bayley Observatory
Venue
- University of Toronto – Mississauga Room DV2074 William G Davis Building
Getting There:
Paid parking in lot 8 is adjacent to the Recreation Athletics and Wellness Centre.
Use the entrance facing Outer Circle road. Walk up the stairs up to the second floor. Continue past Tim Hortons on the second floor and turn right. Follow the hallway to the room 2074 -- look for the RASC banner.
OR
To use the elevators, continue straight on after you enter the building. Take the elevator to the second floor. Turn left out of the elevators and continue down the long hallway to room DW2074 -- look for the RASC banner. If you go by Tim Hortons to the stairs going down, you've gone the wrong way.
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