The University of New Mexico Sevilleta Field Station will host two weekend workshops in recreational astronomy during 2009, the International Year of Astronomy. The field station is located on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in Socorro County.
A workshop for adults will be offered in April, and a workshop for grandparents and grandkids is slated for September. The workshops will emphasize hands-on learning in a beginner-friendly environment.
Don Natvig, field station director and professor, UNM Department of Biology, partnered with two former UNM LodeStar Astronomy Center employees to develop the workshop program. Judy Stanley, formerly director of education for LodeStar and currently education officer for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and Karen Keese, former LodeStar operations manager, are the workshop instructors. UNM owned and operated the astronomy center from 1999 to 2007.
"We are very excited to host these workshops. The Sevilleta Field Station provides a perfect venue. The facilities are modern and comfortable, and the skies are spectacular. Participants will be treated to a Saturday morning tour of the refuge, most of which is closed to the public," said Natvig.
The Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge and Field Station are home to the UNM Long-Term Ecological Research Program, administered by the Department of Biology and funded by the National Science Foundation.
For more information on the workshops, visit www.astronomyworkshops.org.