My interest in astronomy came about when I was in middle school. One clear Texas night in my small town I took my father's binoculars and looked up at the moon. I was hooked. My parents bought me a little KMart TASCO telescope refractor on a EQ mount. I had no idea how to use it but I looked at the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars. It also had one of those plates where you could project an image of the sun. One year on vacation my parents took me to the McDonald observatory in Texas and I thought I would be a professional astronomer when I grew up (didn't happen).

I live in Bonney Lake and wanted to share my passion with others so with a co-worker we started a local astronomy club and I convinced the SAS board to let us become the first SAS chapter.

One of my passions is finding entry level equipment to recommend to new people wanting to get into visual observing and astrophotography. My current telescope is a EVOguide 50ed sitting on a AVX mount with a asi533mc-pro imaging camera and a asi120mm-mini for guiding. I also like playing around with entry level AltAz GoTo mounts to show that people can do astrophotography with them.

My current projects are starting up a Family Astornomy Night at our chapter for kids and parents. I am also looking at creating a inexpensive DIY PushTo for those little table top dobsonian telescopes.

Living in the Florida panhandle I had my share of dark skies and I was obsessed with science fiction, watching the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series every Sunday with my family. Still, it wasn't until I was a teenager and visited a family member in Put-in-bay (a section of South Bass island in Lake Erie) that I saw the true dark sky for the first time, and ever since I've been fascinated with what lies beyond. 

I have a background in event marketing and public relations, however, my career changed to User experience design. My passion is to share the love of astronomy and make it more accessible and approachable to everyone, someone's skill or knowledge level shouldn't hinder them from being included in learning more. 

Living in North Issaquah, and expecting clear skies.

Computer Engineer, work in the tech industry. 

Other hobbies include aviation, scuba diving, photography.

Astrophotography beginner, playing with:

Askar FRA300

ASI533MC and ASI715MC cameras

ASIAir Plus

Skywatcher Adventurer GTi mount

Some of my most awe inspiring early memories were looking up at the night sky while my dad pointed out stars and constellations or driving off-road with him to find good meteor shower watching spots. I was mesmerized by all the remarkable things we could see and even more so by all the things out there we couldn't. Until I left home for college, my dad and I maintained a nightly tradition of taking out the trash together so we had an excuse to stand out in the front yard and marvel at the night sky, sometimes for hours. 

However, as I grew up I went the practical career route and am currently a User Experience Researcher in tech, which pays the bills but doesn't feed the insatiable curiosity about our universe. In 2019 I was expressing this frustration to my dad, and he suggested I join SAS. I joined a few months before the pandemic, which limited how much I was involved, but still gave me access to the equipment library and cemented my conviction to make astronomy a more significant part of my life.

Two years ago I bought a 12" Dobsonian and on the rare clear night here in Seattle, I dragg it out onto the roof and feel the same giddy excitement I had as I kid as I look up at all the wonder.
And the only thing better than feeling that excitement is the opportunity to share that wonder and excitement with others and to help people feel that astronomy is approachable regardless of your background or experience.

My interest in astronomy came about when I was in middle school. One clear Texas night in my small town I took my father's binoculars and looked up at the moon. I was hooked. My parents bought me a little KMart TASCO telescope refractor on a EQ mount. I had no idea how to use it but I looked at the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars. It also had one of those plates where you could project an image of the sun. One year on vacation my parents took me to the McDonald observatory in Texas and I thought I would be a professional astronomer when I grew up (didn't happen).

I live in Bonney Lake and wanted to share my passion with others so with a co-worker we started a local astronomy club and I convinced the SAS board to let us become the first SAS chapter.

One of my passions is finding entry level equipment to recommend to new people wanting to get into visual observing and astrophotography. My current telescope is a EVOguide 50ed sitting on a AVX mount with a asi533mc-pro imaging camera and a asi120mm-mini for guiding. I also like playing around with entry level AltAz GoTo mounts to show that people can do astrophotography with them.

My current projects are starting up a Family Astornomy Night at our chapter for kids and parents. I am also looking at creating a inexpensive DIY PushTo for those little table top dobsonian telescopes.

In addition to the SAS, I'm a member of the Springfield Telescope Makers and return to Vermont annually to assist with the Stellefane convention and judging the telescopes entered into the competition. I am interested in telescope making, mirror grinding, all things mechanical, and many things electrical! 

I grew up north of Spokane in a little town called Nine Mile Falls. We had nice dark skies there and my dad and I were always outside at night with our little refractor looking for the moons of Jupiter or the rings of Saturn. My love for astronomy started there with my dad and has continued on throughout my life.

I graduated from Western Washington University with a degree in English. After college I did a year of volunteer work with Americorps working in elementary schools teaching reading to English Language Learners. I enjoyed this so much and after my year of service I was hired by the school to continue working with these students.

I'm currently interested in Astrophotography and have been working for the last 3 years to learn more about it. It's challenging but so interesting and I hope one day to have more than a collection of fuzzy blobs for my efforts!

I grew up in South Central PA amd became an Astronomy enthusiast in 1974 when my 6th Grade teacher was an Astronomy buff.  He made  a tiny plywood sided, carboard geodesic dome Planetarium in the back of fhe classroom. My parents bought me an Edmunds Scientific 3" reflector for Christmas that year and I joined the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg, maintaining my membership through High School. I was also fortunate that my High School had a large planetarium and I was a member of the Planetarium Assistants Club assisting classroom teaching and conducting shows for the public. I went to the United States Coast Guard Academy for college and once on active duty, I moved about the country and joined various local Astronomy Clubs and even helped with public shows at a little elementary school planetarium in Juneau. AK.  After retiring from the Coast Guard, I moved back to Seattle. I do most of my observing at my cabin in the Okanogan Highlands in the Aeneas Valley near Republic, WA. My biggest astronomical interesting is the observation and tracking of visual commets. I have observed over 70 different comets and I have recieved the Astronomical Leagues Silver and Gold Comet Observing Awards. I've been a volunteer at the Theodor Jacobsen Observatory since 2005 and I try to bring a telescope down to and join the Green Lake Star Parties as often as I can.