[Aavso-photometry] Chambliss Amateur Achievement Award

[arne]

As I have mentioned before, this is an annual award given
out by the AAS to honor achievement in astronomical research
made by an amateur astronomer. The basic rules are:

1) The award will be for an achievement in astronomical research made
by an amateur astronomer; that is a person not employed in the field of
astronomy in a professional capacity, and who is resident in North America.
The key factor will be that the work contributes to the advancement of
the science of astronomy.

2) Nominations will be formally invited each year via an announcement
in the AAS Newsletter. The call for nominations will be circulated to
other groups such as the ASP, AAVSO, ALPO, SAS, and the
Astronomical League.

3) Nominations will be by an AAS member with three supporting letters,
including at least one from a professional member of the AAS, to be
received by a closing date. The nomination form shall be available
in the members-only section of the AAS web site with the provision
for the nominator to fill out basic information  about the nominee
(including contact information), a description of the achievement
being singled out for recognition, and a statement as to why this
amateur and this work are worthy of the award. Self nominations
will be allowed but only from AAS members.

4) An Amateur Achievement Award Committee will be appointed by the
AAS Council to make an annual recommendation for the award. There will
be five members with staged terms. It will include three members of the
WGPAC and initially one member of the AAS Council. Members will be
proposed to the Council by the Committee on Appointments. Initially,
there will be two persons (including a chair) serving for two years,
and three serving for three years. After the initial appointments,
members will be appointed for three year terms.

5) Nominations will remain active for three years as for other
AAS awards and prizes.  The Committee will have the option of not
making an award in any one year should the nominations not be
considered sufficiently meritorious.

Note the requirements: the nominee must be resident in North
America, and the nomination has to be made by an AAS member.
There are several AAS members who are also AAVSO members, so if
you have a good candidate, you should contact one of them
directly.  I should not be one of your AAS-member choices
since I am on the selection committee.

The deadline for applications is October 1 - so don't hesitate,
get a nomination in progress today.  See
http://www.aas.org/grants/awards.php#amateur
for more details.  Brian Warner has told me that the current
form on that web page does not include the Amateur Achievement
award, so give the AAS a couple of weeks to update the page
before submitting your nomination.
Arne