Glenn Chaple
I'm a retired middle school science teacher, living in Townsend, Massachusetts with my wife Regina. I've been an active amateur astronomer since 1970 and a member of the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston and American Association of Variable Star Observers since 1980. Since joining the AAVSO, I have made over 70,000 variable star estimates. I am the author of the book Exploring With a Telescope (Franklin-Watts, 1988) and write the monthly "Observing Basics" column for Astronomy. Besides backyard astronomy, I enjoy fishing and recreational running.

Tim Crawford
Tim Crawford's Bio and a listing of "published" articles as well as recent presentations can be found at his home page. While the 100 mile travel radius from Arrch Cape, OR is pretty much limited to the Northern Oregon coastal zone and the Portland, OR metropolitan area, I am willing to consider the Seattle, WA area upon request. Travel outside of these zones might require overnight lodging, in addition to travel expenses and meals. Please feel "free" to inquire regarding whatever your groups needs might be. Remember: "There is no such thing as a dumb question."

"Per Ardua ad Astra"
(Through adversity to the Stars)

Dr. Pamela L. Gay
A lifetime stargazer, Dr. Pamela L. Gay has followed her obsession to a profession. Today Dr. Gay is a associate research professor of Physics at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where she teaches introductory physics and astronomy courses. Teaching by day, she works on astronomy data by night, teaming up with amateur astronomers who are expert observers to study variable stars. In between, she finds time to mentor students working on observational astronomy projects through Swinburne Astronomy online. Podcasting is a creative outlet that brings together her love of astronomy with her passion for teaching, making staying current in an ever-changing field a fun endeavor. You can find her online at astronomycast.com and starstryder.com.

Katherine Hutton
Katherine Hutton has joined the AAVSO twice: once in 1967, and once in 2006. She left variable stars once, to earn a PhD in astronomy (specialty in very long baseline radio interferometry) & travel a circuitous academic route into seismology, where she now earns her living processing earthquake data & sharing it with the general public through the TV news, following any large shake-ups. Eventually, the variable stars called her back, however. She is primarily a visual observer, just starting to teach herself CCD photometry & she participates in the Arne's Star program, which allows AAVSO members to help the Director clear his desk of unanalyzed data. Her special interests include semiregular variables, the supergiants & Wolf-Rayet stars. She is a mentor for new visual observers. She has written pieces for the Eyepiece Views newsletter & some content for the AAVSO web site. She is also in training to be a docent for the Mt. Wilson Observatory.

Tom Krajci
Tom Krajci (web page here), Major, USAF (retired), is an amateur scientist specializing in photometry. He operates the Astrokolkhoz Observatory at an elevation of 9,440 feet near Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Tom is translating several books on telescope making and optics design from Russian into English, including the works of Dmitry Maksutov.

Doug Lombardi
Doug Lombardi is a regional trainer at the Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program, which offers professional development focused on the content teachers teach. For the past 7 years, he has also served as a volunteer teacher resource agent for the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Education and Public Outreach Program. Doug has ties to other NASA E/PO programs, including the Phoenix Mars Mission, where he managed the mission's educational program for just over two years.

Doug and his wife Janelle have a 8-inch Dobsonian telescope that allows them to observe variable stars and the marquee signs on the Las Vegas Strip. While at a teacher workshop in Hawaii, Doug was taught the basics of observing from none other than Janet Mattei herself. He will be forever grateful to Janet and the AAVSO for giving him the support to explore the universe with students and other teachers.

Alex McConahay
Alex McConahay (web page here) is a former teacher and school administrator living in Moreno Valley, California. He has built several telescopes (with a Merit Award from RTMC), and enjoys observing and astro-imaging as well as astro-related travel. He has been active in amateur astronomy for about fifteen years as a member of several local clubs, the Astronomical League, and especially the Riverside Astronomical Society. He has served the RAS in a number of ways and is currently President. He is one of the trustees of RTMC Inc., working especially with Beginner's Corner at their Memorial Day Astronomy Expo, and helped establish the Pacific Astronomy and Telescope Show.

Mario Motta, MD
Mario Motta, MD, is a cardiologist in the Partners Health System, based in Salem Massachusetts. He also holds an academic appointment as Associate Professor of Medicine at Tufts Medical School. An advanced amateur astronomer, Mario has built several observatories, and homemade telescopes. He observes from a homebuilt 32 inch telescope from Gloucester , MA the "Wingaersheek Observatory". As a former president of the ATMOB (Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston), he initiated a collaboration between public schools and the ATMOB, with help from the former director of the AAVSO, Dr Mattei. The ATMOB now give over 50 star parties a year in the greater Boston area for school kids, and partner an amateur with a school district.

Mario's interests have been in Galactic evolution, Gamma Ray Bursters, Supernovae, as well as variable Stars. He also gives many talks on Light Pollution issues.

Mario is always happy to share his knowledge and enthusiasm for astronomy with the public. Mario received the "Las Cumbres" award from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in 2003 for astronomical outreach, and in 2005 received the "Walter Scott Houston" Award from the astronomical league.

Chuck Pullen
Chuck Pullen teaches astronomy at Sierra College, Sacramento City College, and at Cal State Sacramento. He also works in product development for Optical Structures, Inc., a Sacramento based manufacturer of research grade optics and astronomical telescope systems. An AAVSO member since 1998, he is a skilled CCD and Visual observer. His observational interests includes multimode cepheids, Gamma Ray Bursts, Supernova, RR Lyrae stars, and robotic observatory design and construction. He has developed numerous PowerPoint tutorials on variable star observation techniques, the AAVSO/NASA Gamma Ray Burst Network, and other issues that are featured on the AAVSO Web Page and have been downloaded thousands of times.

Chuck is an entertaining and knowledgeable speaker who has given lectures on the AAVSO and astronomy to dozens of astronomy clubs, star parties, planetariums, and college lecture series groups over the years.

Michael Richmond
Michael Richmond did his graduate work on supernovae at U. C. Berkeley, then spent five years as a post-doc on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. He is now a member of the Physics Department at RIT, where he spends most of his time teaching introductory physics courses. In spare moments, he works on the calibration of the proposed SNAP mission, observes cataclysmic variables, and continues to study supernovae with the SDSS and Subaru.

Michael Rupen
Michael Rupen received his bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his PhD in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University. Following a postdoctoral position at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, he moved to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, where he has been on the scientific staff since 1992. His research focuses on transient sources and the interstellar medium, primarily involving radio observations with the nation's premier radio telescopes, particularly the Very Large Array and the Very Long Baseline Array. He is also currently the Project Scientist for Software and the WIDAR Correlator for the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA).

Mike Simonsen
Mike Simonsen, from Imlay City, Michigan, is one of the most active variable star observers in the world. His observatory, which houses two 12" LX200's, is funded in part by grants from the NASA Swift Program and AAVSO.

Mike has published papers in refereed astronomical journals and is a contributing editor of the AAVSO publication Eyepiece Views. He is on the governing council of the AAVSO, coordinator of the AAVSO Mentor Program for new observers, in charge of AAVSO chart and sequence production and a member of the AAVSO Education and Public Outreach Committee. He is also creator and administrator of the cataclysmic variable website, CVnet.

In 2005, Mike was the recipient of the AAVSO Director's Award for his numerous contributions to the organization.

An animated and enthusiastic speaker, Mike has given dozens of talks on various aspects of variable star science to astronomy clubs, organizations and university groups throughout the Midwest. In 2005 he coordinated the AAVSO Visual Workshop, bringing in speakers from around the globe to educate visual observers of variable stars. He can present one of the talks listed on this website, or create a custom presentation tailored to your audience. Mr. Simonsen is willing to give presentations free of charge within 200 miles of home. If travel will exceed 200 miles, overnight lodging, travel expenses and a meal are the usual requirements. Each request is considered on an individual basis. A donation of $100.00 payable to AAVSO is always appreciated, but not required.

Chris Stephan
Chris Stephan of The Robert Clyde Observatory in Sebring, Florida, has been a variable star observer for the AAVSO since 1973. He has made over 33,000 visual variable star estimates. Chris has been a speaker on variable stars at various astronomy events. He has received the distinguished AAVSO Director's Award in 2004 and had observations published in various international astronomy journals. Chris is also a member of the American Meteor Society and has led or participated in several lunar grazing occultation expedition teams for IOTA. Chris has been a middle school science teacher with Highlands County Schools for 21 years. He is currently teaching at Avon Park Middle School in Avon Park, Florida. Chris has been married for 22 years and has a son in college.

Robert J. Stine
Robert J. Stine (AAVSO Observer SRB) Born: 8 Feb 1947, Glendale, California Education: High School: Granada Hills High School; graduated 1964 (famous quarterback John Elway is an alumnus who graduated about a decade later) College: BS Physics 1969 California State University at Northridge MS Electrical Engineering University of California Santa Barbara 1978 Career: Navy Flight Test Engineering of airborne weapons systems Current Status: Retired and overweight. Bald too. Family: Wife Christine (38 years), two daughters, five grandsons

Paul Temple
Paul Temple is originally from Arizona but now resides in the Midwest. His passion is astronomy though he has a Masters degree in Divinity. In November of 2002 Paul retired from a 20 year career as a senior pastor to teach science and coach in high school. Paul currently teaches physics, biology and physical science and coache's football, girls basketball and baseball.

Coach T (as his students call him) has one published abstract in the JAAVSO entitled "Preparations for Observing WW UMA and CV UMA." He has also presented talks at the Mid-America Regional Astrophysics Conference in Kansas City, The Astronomical Society National Convention and for functions with the Astronomical Society of Kansas City. Having lived and worked in the Navajo nation in Arizona, Mr. Temple has a working knowledge of Navajo culture and beliefs. These have been put to good use as a science teacher in Arizona as well as two presentations at MARAC.

Mr. Temple's interests are variable stars, dusty asteroids, planetary studies and telescopic observing. Recently, he has gotten involved in CCD work, especially photometry with a low cost camera. He has built an 8" Dobsonian (aptly named the Bargain Bucket!) but uses a computerized DS-90 refractor the most. His other telescopes include a Celestron 4.5 reflector, a 4.5" Jason "comet catcher," a Meade ETX-RA and various smaller instruments.

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