Candidates provided information for the paper ballots sent out August 6, 2008. That information is included on this web page. Additionally, any candidate who opted to post more detailed information is posted here as well.

AAVSO Council Member Candidates 2008 - 2010:

• James Alexander, Tombstone, AZ
• Michelle J. Creech-Eakman, Socorro, NM
• Edward F. Guinan, Villanova, PA
• Katherine Hutton, Pasadena, CA
• Michael Koppelman, Golden Valley, MN
• Arlo U. Landolt*, Baton Rouge, LA

James Alexander, Tombstone, AZ

10 years ago, one Sunday morning, while standing in front of a magazine rack at the super market, I picked up a copy of Scientific American. Something had caught my eye, --- a full blown color, artist rendition of an expanding universe. In that moment, I flashed from the awe of a small boy, standing with his grandfather gazing up , for the first time at the blazing Milky Way in Humboldt, AZ to a man at 52 caught again in that same awe. Since that day, I've never looked back.

With much excitement, and after 3 years, I'm bringing online a remote observatory in the dark skies of Southeastern Arizona. Here, I look forward to many explorations in spectroscopy and photometry, continuing to establish an educational outreach program, and working with AAVSO programs, as I'm a very recent arrival to AAVSO, as well as working on projects with astronomers and amateurs in the community.

I have a strong background in business as a lifelong entrepreneur in the fields of construction and real estate development, specializing in inner city revitalization, and would hope some of these skills could be well applied to my involvement with the AAVSO council.

Michelle J. Creech-Eakman, Socorro, NM

I am a newcomer to the AAVSO Council, but have been a user of AAVSO light curves for 15 years as a graduate student and now professional astronomer. My background includes degrees in Physics from the Univ of North Dakota and the Univ of Denver, after which I had postdocs at Caltech and JPL working on some of the most complicated telescope projects in the world. Currently I am a Physics professor and Project Scientist on an optical interferometer here in NM. My past, however, has not jaded me to the vital importance of a vast network of observers tracking the skies much more regularly than many of us "professionals" do. It would be impossible for most of us to obtain these fundamental data needed for our variable star research if left to our own methods.

I think the AAVSO holds a unique position that should be nurtured and supported by the professional astronomy community at a higher level than it currently is. This extends beyond the AAVSO mission statement...as I believe your role includes significant public outreach, stirring young minds to the wonders of our universe. I also believe your position could be strengthened by expanding the mission to include more infrared and spectral light curves, for which inexpensive solutions are becoming readily available. If appointed, I will work within the AAVSO Council to expand the mission and raise the profile of the organization.

Edward F. Guinan, Villanova, PA

I have been an AAVSO member for over 25-yrs and have worked and collaborated with amateur astronomers in the US and other countries. I have been working on variable stars and eclipsing binary systems for 40+ yrs and have published 500+ papers. One project - the study of long-term light changes of bright stars utilizes visual magnitude measures to study possible luminosity and evolutionary changes of bright variable stars such Betelgeuse, Mira, & Polaris. My avid interest & research on variable and interacting binary stars has lead to my election as President of IAU Commission 42 (Close Binary Stars) and IAU Division V (Variable and Binary Stars). In addition to ground-based telescopes, I have used X-ray, UV, and Infrared space telescopes for my research.

If elected, I will enthusiastically serve and foster closer cooperation among amateur and professional astronomers and also to improve coordination of international programs. Recently, I have been developing Artificial Neural Network (ANN) techniques to automatically classify and analyze huge datasets of all types of close binary and variable stars that could be utilized by AAVSO members to efficiently "mine" the increasing huge AAVSO and NASA datasets. Also I will encourage expanding AAVSO education and outreach programs.

Dr. Guinan is a Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics at Villanova University. Currently he is the Co-Chair of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Program on Teaching Astronomy for Development (TAD). In this program he has organized Astronomy Schools and Education and Outreach programs in developing countries. (edward.guinan@villanova.edu)

Katherine Hutton, Pasadena, CA

I have joined the AAVSO twice: once in 1967, and again in 2006. I left variable stars once, to earn a PhD in astronomy (with a specialty in very long baseline radio interferometry) & travel a circuitous academic route into seismology, where I now earn my living processing earthquake data & sharing it with the general public through the TV news following any large shake-ups. Eventually, the variable stars called me back, however. I am primarily a visual observer & have had the privilege of using the "classic" Clinton Ford Observatory for some of my observations. I am currently starting to learn CCD photometry as well. I am participating in the Arne's Star program, which allows AAVSO members to help our esteemed Director clear his desk of unanalyzed data. My special interests include the supergiants & Wolf-Rayet stars. I am learning to model eclipsing binaries. I am a mentor for new visual observers. I have written several pieces for the AAVSO Eyepiece Views newsletter & some content for the AAVSO web site. I am also a docent for the Mount Wilson Observatory. Although I am only learning my way around data mining & the AAVSO/VSX data bases, in my capacity as seismologist, I have extensive experience with massive amounts of data & also in transcription of historical information into computer usable formats. I am looking forward to bringing the skills that I have to benefit one of my favorite organizations.

When I wrote my 250-word statement for the Council ballot, I tried to cram in my entire interaction with the AAVSO. Now, I'm thinking that it is only fair to the members for me to write something more readable. So here goes ...

My first encounter with variable stars occurred when I was in high school. A friend of the family taught me to find & estimate delta Cep, which, at that time of lower light pollution, was a naked eye star. I had a small Newtonian telescope & by the time I was in my senior year, I had joined the AAVSO & was sending in observations for a few Miras & R CrB. College studies at Penn State curtailed the observing & eventually the membership, even though I majored in astronomy. My studies led me to graduate school at the University of Maryland & involvement in radio astronomy, in particular very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). I was part of the VLBI team at Goddard Space Flight Center; we used the same data to map the cores of quasars & also measure tectonic plate motion on the Earth. Through this connection, I got interested in seismology & the possibility of earthquake prediction, so I left astronomy & started working for the Seismological Laboratory at Caltech, analyzing earthquake data. And there I am still.

Within the last few years, the variable stars have called me back, however. I bought a 10-inch Dob & joined the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, which owns a (somewhat) dark sky site in the (somewhat) nearby mountains & began visual observing again. Through the LAAS, I met a small group of people who use the old Clinton Ford Observatory, on Mt. Peltier, in the San Gabriel Mountains. This AAVSO facility is a "classic" 18-inch Newtonian, state of the amateur art when it was built in the 1970's & equipped with a complete set of AAVSO charts from that era. The Ford crew were my re-schooling mentors. I rejoined the AAVSO & began submitting observations. I was sort of blown away by the impact that the Internet had wrought on the AAVSO while I was absent. There were more charts available than I could ever have imagined, discussion lists & even a chatroom! For a while, my re-entry into astronomy felt like free fall into a black hole called "home".

More than a year ago now, I took the bait that Arne held out to the members of the discussion list & adopted an "Arne's star" project. The star involved is an eclipsing binary system containing a Wolf-Rayet star. I have been waking up brain cells that have been sleeping for years, learning to analyze eclipsing binaries & otherwise slog my way back into research level astronomy. Although it is taking/has taken me a long time to get the upper hand in this project, I consider this aspect of the AAVSO to be one of the most valuable, to me. The AAVSO literally provides a path for any of us to go as far as we want to go in variable star astronomy!

Early this year, I had a bout with the flu, which prevented me from being outside "Dobbing" around the sky, so I started taking CCD images on the Global-Rent-A-Scope system & learning basic photometry. At first, this process could only be described as "having fits". I applied for & was assigned a CCD mentor. By now, simple differential photometry in one color seems to be going fairly smoothly. My CCD magnitudes agree with my visual observations to within the error of the visual observations & I can fairly reliably produce Extended Format that WebObs will accept. My next step, I guess is to learn to calibrate my atmosphere & "go Technicolor". I also want to learn how to mine data. I have to add, however, that I still enjoy sitting in the back yard looking at the sky & photometry is in no way a replacement for visual observing on my personal list of favorite activities.

Meanwhile, I like to write & I've produced several pieces for the Eyepiece Views. I've also written a number of short book reviews for the AAVSO on-line bookstore. Last year, myself & the rest of the Ford Observatory crew took the AAVSO's fancy trade-show display to the Riverside Telescope Makers Convention (RTMC), arguably the largest star party in the world. We didn't actually recruit any new members, but our booth was popular because we had chairs in the shade & we did get to meet several AAVSO members whom we had not met before. I am currently arranging to escort the display to the first Pacific Astronomy & Telescope Show in Pasadena this September.

When I was initially approached about running for Council, I declined because I felt that I was too new to the AAVSO, even what one might descibe as an "upstart". I knew a lot of names on the chatroom, but didn't actually know very many people & I've only been to one meeting. I don't have any boardroom experience to speak of. It seems, however, that there aren't many observers on Council & even fewer from the West Coast. After two self-proclaimed "skunks" shanghaied me on the chatroom & systematically demolished my excuses, I decided to give it a go. Observers, I can certainly represent you. As an operator of a large seismic network, I have a lot of experience with a lot of data, I can certainly identify with the AAVSO as collector, archiver & purveyor of data. I feel like I should at least put my biographical information out there & let the members decide. Aside from being one of the foremost repositories of data, the AAVSO also seems to be a major "enabler" for amateur astronomers who want to increase their knowledge & interaction with the research community. I am ready to do what I can to serve this organization.

Michael Koppelman, Golden Valley, MN

Michael Koppelman is an amateur astronomer and has been a dedicated member of the AAVSO for 10 years. He was formerly on the board of the Minnesota Astronomical Society and he is currently the co-chair of the International Year of Astronomy New Media Working Group. He volunteers for the AAVSO as lead developer on the Variable Star Plotter (VSP).

He recently completed his undergraduate degree in astrophysics from the University of Minnesota and he helps to popularize astronomy with his work at Slacker Astronomy, a light-hearted podcast about astronomy. He recently appeared in the PBS documentary "Seeing In The Dark", discussing his detection of the optical afterglow of a gamma-ray burst. He is also a business owner, a father and a musician.

Michael hopes to bring to the AAVSO Council a positive, can-do, will-do attitude. He will attend all the meetings, actively participate in discussions and work to support and strengthen the organization at every opportunity. He will also bring his expertise on leveraging the Internet to create new, fun and efficient ways to serve the membership and the professional community. You can find out more about Michael's observatory and research at http://www.starhouseobservatory.com/.

Arlo U. Landolt, Baton Rouge, LA

Arlo is Ball Family Professor of Astronomy Emeritus in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. He is an observational astronomer, interested in establishing photometric standard star sequences, and in the study of variable stars, eclipsing binaries, and star clusters. He served nine years as Secretary of Section D (astronomy), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), eighteen years as Secretary of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), fifteen years on the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Physics (AIP), as well as terms as President of International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Commission 25 and Division IX, and is completing his first term on the Council of the AAVSO. Data provided by the AAVSO community have for years proven of great value in the support of astronomical research. Arlo foresees the continued usefulness of what has been called the amateur professional collaboration, and will do what he can to enhance such efforts.