Italo Testa

Department of Physics "E. Pancini" University Federico II of Naples

Italo Testa is a professor of Physics Education at the Federico II University in Naples. His research interests related to astronomy education include the role of affective variables in students' learning processes, the study of visual representations, and the development of teaching-learning sequences based on active learning methods to address students' misconceptions. He currently serves as editorial board member for the journals Physical Review Physics Education Research and Astronomy Education Journal.

Moupiya Maji

Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics; Office of Astronomy Education, India

Moupiya Maji is a postdoctoral researcher at IUCAA (Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics) working in astronomy education. She is currently a member of the Office of Astronomy Education (OAE), India. She previously completed her Ph.D. in computational astrophysics at The Pennsylvania State University and has worked at the University of Geneva. Her research interests include astronomy education, galaxies, and hydrodynamic simulations.

Prathmesh Jadhav

Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra India

Prathmesh Jadhav is currently a student pursuing Masters of Science in Physics at Savitribai Phule Pune University, Who has worked for science outreach activities in Astroclub and PCMC Science Park and insterested in Astronomy Education Research.

Julia D Plummer

The Pennsylvania State University

Dr. Julia Plummer, Professor of Science Education at the Pennsylvania State University, spent more than a decade teaching children and adults in planetariums and other informal settings and continues to teach introductory astronomy and science methods for elementary teachers. Her research focuses on the design of learning environments that support children's spatial thinking and science practices, primarily in the domain of astronomy. She also investigates how storybook narratives can be used to support science learning. Her research includes both formal environments, such as classrooms, and informal environments, such as planetariums and museums.

Pierre Chastenay

Université du Québec à Montréal

Pierre Chastenay holds a master’s degree in astrophysics from Université Laval in Québec City and a doctorate in science education from Université de Montréal. He is now a Full professor of science education at Université du Québec à Montréal, where his main research interests are science and astronomy education, and elementary teacher training. Previously, he was Director of Education at the Planétarium de Montréal for 25 years. In 2017, he was awarded the Qilak Award from the Canadian Astronomical Society and the Sanford-Fleming Medal from the Royal Canadian Institute for Science, recognizing his long and distinguished record of outstanding contributions to communicating astronomy and science to Canadians.

Exodus Chun-Long Sit

Starrix

Exodus CL Sit is a transmedia astronomy educator, popular science author and science communicator from Hong Kong. He is the IAU National Astronomy Education Coordinator (Chair of Hong Kong) and Co-National Outreach Coordinator. Additionally, he is also an International Committee of the Dark Sky International. He actively promotes dark-sky protection and popular science in multiple disciplines and research on interdisciplinary approaches, such as sustainability, dark-sky protection, space exploration, astronomy innovation, astropreneurship, inclusive science communication, and STEAM Education.

Atul Bhat

Department of Physics, Poornaprajna College & Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers

Atul Bhat is an Assistant Professor of Physics at Poornaprajna College, Udupi – under Mangalore University, India. He also runs the Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers’ Work, where he co-ordinates stargazing programs, Astronomy outreach and Training programs for the students and teachers of the region. At the club, he also works towards making astronomy information accessible through visual medium. During the Annular Eclipse of 2019, he along with his Mentor Dr. A.P. Bhat reached out to 1000 schools and trained the teachers and students to view the eclipse safely and also provided solar goggles to these schools. He has also been published for his research on Solar Prominences.

Stijn Calders

Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB)

Stijn Calders serves as a PhD researcher affiliated with both the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB) and KU Leuven. Prior to this, he attained his master's degree in electronics engineering from the Karel de Grote College in Antwerp. His research pursuits revolve around meteors, citizen science, and space weather, reflecting his keen curiosity about cosmic phenomena. Beyond his academic pursuits, Stijn takes an active role in astronomy outreach initiatives, actively engaging with diverse audiences to kindle fascination for the celestial wonders above.

Fraser Lewis

Dill Faulkes Educational Trust (DFET)

Fraser Lewis was PI on the LaSciL Project and is based in South Wales as an educator and researcher with the Faulkes Telescope Project. He writes resources for teachers and students in astronomy and is an active researcher in the field of X-ray Binaries, especially in their behaviour at optical wavelengths.

Andy Brittain

Lady Eleanor Holles School

Andy Brittain is a Physics Teacher and STEM Co-ordinator at Lady Eleanor Holles School in London, England. He has been teaching in UK secondary schools, mostly as Head of Physics, for a quarter of a century. He is a Schools Observatory Champion who specialises in school based research projects and STEM outreach.

Loraien Raju Kalathil

International School of Photonics, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin 682022, Kerala, India

Loraien Raju Kalathil is pursuing the 5 years integrated masters in Photonics at the International School of Photonics in India. Along with her research interests in nanophotonics and material sciences, she is also deeply interested in physics education research, and is currently working on interdisciplinary teaching approach for school level astronomy.

Jayant Ganguly

Regional Science Centre and Planetarium Calicut

Jayant Ganguly is an officer at Regional Science Centre and Planetarium Calicut (RSCPC) which is a unit of National Council of Science Museums under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. He is affiliated to this institution for the last 27 years. He works in the field of astronomy outreach and education in particular and STEM communication in general. He has worked in projects towards conceptualization and development of more than 40 planetarium shows, a large number of science galleries and temporary exhibitions at the center.

Chris Impey

University of Arizona

Chris Impey is a Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona. He has over 250 refereed publications and has been awarded $20 million in grants from NASA and the NSF. He has won eleven teaching awards and has taught four online classes with over 400,000 enrolled and 6 million minutes of video lectures watched. Impey is a past Vice President of the American Astronomical Society and has won its career Education Prize. He’s also been an NSF Distinguished Teaching Scholar, the Carnegie Council’s Arizona Professor of the Year, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor. He has written 120 popular articles on cosmology, astrobiology, and education, two textbooks, a novel called Shadow World, and 9 popular science books.

Magdalena Kersting

Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen

Magdalena Kersting is an assistant professor of science education at the University of Copenhagen. She has a background in theoretical physics, mathematics, and science communication, and she received the International Astronomical Union PhD Prize for her educational reconstruction of Einstein’s general theory of relativity for secondary school. Her research interests include modern physics education and embodied cognition in science education.

Anne-Marie Wijmans

School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews

"Dr Anne-Marie Weijmans is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Astrophysics at the University of St Andrews. Her research is on the structure and evolution of galaxies, with a focus on their dark matter content. She regularly gives interactive astronomy talks and workshops in schools and museums, and she leads Shine: an interdisciplinary project that explores the properties of light and its use in modern astronomy research through science, art and music. "

Nicolas Bonne

University of Portsmouth

Originally from Australia, Nic is a vision impaired astronomer and a Public Engagement and Outreach Fellow at the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation. He currently leads the Tactile Universe public engagement project, which is developing free multi-sensory resources to open up different ways for blind and vision impaired people to engage with current topics in astronomy.

Daniele Pizzo

Biology teacher at the public school system in the state of São Paulo

Daniele Pizzo is a biology teacher at the public school system in the state of São Paulo. Master's student in teaching astronomy at IAG - University of São Paulo. Her research area is the interdisciplinary teaching of astronomy.

Oriel Marshall

University o Antwerp & Copenhagen University

Oriel Marshall is a third year joint PhD student at the universities of Copenhagen and Antwerpen. She is part of the CHAMELEON innovative training network which focuses on modeling exoplanets and protoplanetary disks. Her role within this network is creating and assessing teaching materials based on the topics within the network. Oriel has worked with and developed hands-on astrophysics learning materials in many capacities prior to her current PhD project. These include the thesis project of her astrophysics masters project at the University of St Andrews, and during her time working with Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and subsequently for the ESA CHEOPs mission.

Ignacia Benito-Cisterna

Universidad de Santiago de Chile & San Ignacio ElBosque School

Ignacia Benito Cisterna is a physics and mathematics teacher from the University of Chile. She also holds a diploma in teaching experimental sciences from the same university. Half of her teaching career has been dedicated to physics, while the other half to mathematics. She presently teaches mathematics at San Ignacio El Bosque school in Santiago de Chile. She is dedicated to bridging scientific concepts with students and has designed activities, including a didactic sequence for fourth graders focusing on fundamental optics and experiential learning. She is an active member of the pedagogical team at CIRAS-USACH, where she creates educational sequences centered around mathematics and frontier astronomy, utilizing open astronomy databases

Faustine Cantalloube

Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM)

Faustine Cantalloube is a researcher in instrumentation for astrophysics, applied to exoplanet imaging with ground-based telescopes that are working in the infrared

Priya Shah Hasan

Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad

Dr Priya Hasan is an Asst Professor in Physics at the Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, India. She did her Integrated Masters from the Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, PhD at Osmania University, Hyderabad in 2004 and post-doctoral research in France and IUCAA, Pune. She was awarded the Women Scientist Award by DST in 2006. She has presented her work in various conferences in India, Europe and US and in the United Nations, Vienna. Her research interests are in observational astronomy, star formation, star clusters and galaxies. . She is the co-Chair of the Women in Astronomy WG- IAU.

Julie Bolduc-Duval

Discover the Universe, Dunlap Institute, University of Toronto

Julie Bolduc-Duval is the director of the astronomy education program Discover the Universe. She has been working in the field of astronomy education and outreach for over 20 years and founded Discover the Universe in 2011 to help Canadian teachers. She is involved in many science education groups and initiatives at the local, national, and international levels.

Mathias Jaeger

Planetarium Mannheim

Mathias is a trained astronomer and the Scientific and Technical Director of the Planetarium Mannheim. He started his current career in the communication department of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) were he was jointly responsible for setting up the astronomical exhibition in the “ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre”. From 2015, he was the Public Information Officer for the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, before becoming the press officer at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. Since October 2021 he is working at the Plantarium Mannheim.

Somaya Saad

National Reserch Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, NRIAG

Somaya Saad, is Prof. of Astrophysics, at Astronomy Dept,. National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG). She received her M.Sc. and Ph.D in astrophysics from Cairo University. Her research interest include fields of stellar astrophysics and stellar variability. She is the NOC of Egypt and the manager of OAE-Egypt for Astronomy education in Egypt and Arabic-speaking countries.

Mallory Conlon

Yerkes Observatory

Mallory Conlon joined the Yerkes Observatory team in June 2023 to lead the development and implementation of the observatory's outreach and education programming. She graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. (2013) and M.S. (2014) in astronomy and has more than 7 years experience creating outreach and educational programming for the fields of astronomy, physics, and quantum information science. Outside of engaging the public in astronomy, she is particularly interested in exploring student pre-instruction ideas about cosmology and how non-traditional spaces can be used to amplify an appreciation for, and engagement and retention in astronomy.

Elizabeth Tasker

JAXA

Elizabeth Tasker is an astrophysicist and science communicator at the Institute for Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Her research explores planet formation, and using virtual spaces for research, education and outreach.

Robert Cumming

Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology

Robert Cumming is astronomer and communicator at Onsala Space Observatory in Sweden. He has a PhD from Imperial College, London, and has worked at Stockholm University and the popular magazine Populär Astronomi. He is interested in effective outreach and communication methods, and has tried to apply some of these among radio telescopes and Earth science instruments at the observatory in Onsala.

Sarah McAnulty

Skype a Scientist

Dr. Sarah McAnulty is a squid biologist and science communicator. She received her Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology working on Hawaiian bobtail squid symbiosis in 2019. She is currently the executive director of Skype a Scientist, a non-profit that connects over 10,000 classrooms to scientists every year. Dr. McAnulty is a prolific science communicator, with an active presence on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and Tiktok. She’s been featured by Nature, Forbes, NPR Shortwave, along with many others, for her work.

Susan Murabana

The Travelling Telescope

Susan Murabana Owen is the co-founder and the CEO of The Travelling Telescope, a social enterprise dedicated to promoting astronomy in Africa. Her team takes their large portable telescopes and mobile planetarium to schools and public spaces, engaging students in Astronomy. The Travelling Telescope also partners with lodges educating and entertaining tourists about the beautifully Kenyan night skies. Her company recently built a fixed planetarium “The Nairobi Planetarium” with bamboo. Her company is the youth partner of Airbus Foundation. The Travelling Telescope won the Europlanet award for science engagement 2020. Susan serves on the board of world space Week, is one of the UNOOSA space for women mentors. She was the founding president of African Planetarium Association and serves on the board of International Planetarium Association. She is the national co-ordinator Universe Awareness. She has been featured on CNN African voices, BBC and other local and international media houses. She is passionate about quality education for all.

Elizabeth Villanueva

Global Hands-On Universe

Elizabeth Villanueva Vásquez, a Physics and Mathematics educator with a master's in Didactics of Experimental Sciences, is a key contributor to the Galileo Teachers Training Program since 2010. As an instructor since 2014, she's empowered over 100 educators in using SalsaJ software for astronomical image analysis. In 2019, she co-developed the educational kit "An Eclipse in Your Hands" with Bioquimica.cl and Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Currently, she coordinates Gee-Whiz Astronomy Modeling, guiding high school students in astronomical research alongside educators and astronomers. Supported by G-HOU and Las Cumbres Observatory, this initiative maximizes impact.

Dragana Ilic

Department of Astronomy, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Mathematics

Dragana Ilić holds the Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of Belgrade and University of Padua. Currently she is an associated professor at the Faculty of Mathematics - University of Belgrade. She was awarded the L'Oréal-UNESCO national scholarship «For Women in Science» for 2014 and has received a Humboldt fellowship in 2020. Her research focuses on the spectroscopy of active galactic nuclei and gaseous regions around supermassive black hole. She is a member of the Society of Astronomers of Serbia and the International Astronomical Union (IAU). She was the president of IAU National Committee for Astronomy in Serbia (2014-2017). She is the coordinator for international collaboration for the Faculty of Mathematics. She organized a great number of international conferences and is particularly focused on organizing student workshops and summer practices. She is actively working on science popularization and communication, as well as in increasing the astronomy education in Serbia.

Joanna Holt

NOVA (Netherlands Research School for Astronomy) & AUAS (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences)

Joanna Holt is the Education Manager at the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA) and an Associate Professor in the Science Education Group at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS). She completed her PhD in astrophysics in 2005 at the University of Sheffield in the UK. After more than a decade in academic research, she specialised in astronomy and science education including positions in the Education Team at the European Space Agency (ESA) and at the primary teacher training institute at the AUAS. Joanna is responsible for the NOVA Mobile Planetarium and is a member of the Dutch Black Hole Consortium. Her research interests include astronomy education, smart education and how to support the teaching of scientific thinking skills. Joanna is the chair of the Dutch NAEC team.

Maria Clara Heringer Lourenco

Federal Univeristy of Rio de Janeiro

Maria Clara is an 23-year-old undergraduate astronomy student at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. She works with kids in social vulnerability at Rio de Janeiro, making astronomy as a tool for social and emociontal development of this kids.

Vivian White

Astronomical Society of the Pacific, USA

Vivian White is the Director of Free Choice Learning at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in San Francisco, CA, where she has had the joy of working with amateur astronomers, Girl Scouts, and Buddhist monastics for nearly 2 decades. She is also a mom, a potter, and an avid explorer of this world.

Irma Fuentes-Morales

Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH) and Ruta Sustentable Environmental Foundation, Chile

Irma Fuentes is a Dr in Astrophysics and is currently a postdoctoral researcher in astronomy education at the Millennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons (YEMS) at the University of Santiago of Chile (USACH). Her research areas include nova explosions in cataclysmic variable stars and astronomical education research, with a focus on developing classroom activities that utilize astronomy to teach scientific subjects, primarily aligned with the Chilean educational reality. Additionally, she is the founder of an environmental Foundation called “Ruta Sustentable” that contributes to environmental and scientific education outside the classroom in her country.

Cuauhtemoc Mendez

Tec de Monterrey campus Guadalajara. Content director at TRIBU cultura astronómica

Cuauhtemoc Mendez teaches sciences at Tec de Monterrey campus Guadalajara, and conducts an Astronomy outreach program through the NGO TRIBU cultura astronómica.

Ola Ali

National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics

Ola Ali has been an assistant researcher at Galaxy Laboratory, Astronomy Department, National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, Helwan, Egypt since 2013. She previously completed her bachelor's degree in Astronomy at the faculty of science, at Cairo University. Right now she is pursuing a master's degree in the field of open star clusters, She is a member of NAECs Egypt and OAE Center Egypt. She is an activist in Astronomy outreach.

Stephanie Bernard

University of Melbourne School of Physics

Stephanie Bernard is an astronomy and space science educator at the University of Melbourne, the Victorian Space Science Education Centre (VSSEC), and Scienceworks and the Melbourne Planetarium. Using her background in research astrophysics using space telescopes and ground-based telescopes around the world, she aims to bring the wonder of the Universe to students and the general public of all ages.

Mike Simmons

Astronomy for Equity, an initiative of Blue Marble Space

Mike Simmons has been an amateur astronomer and outreach leader for 50 years. Recognizing astronomy as a universal interest that transcends cultural differences, Mike founded Astronomers Without Borders in 2006 to unite astronomy and space enthusiasts worldwide through their common interests. He is currently an Affiliate Research Scientist at Blue Marble Space Institute of Science where he is creating programs addressing issues of diversity and inclusion using astronomy and space, Astronomy for Equity. He is a founding member of the Overview Institute, a member of the board directors of the International Dark-Sky Association, serves on the Outreach Committee of the African Astronomical Society and the IAU Working Group on Diversity and Inclusion. He regularly gives presentations, both in the US and abroad, on using astronomy to improve international relations and reduce inequity. Mike has received numerous awards for his work in the field, including having Minor Planet Simmons (22294) named in his honor in 2003. Mike was also awarded the prestigious 2014 Gabrielle and Camille Flammarion Prize from the Société Astronomique de France (SAF) for “setting a worldwide example that astronomy does transcend political and cultural borders.”

Rosa Doran

NUCLIO - Núcleo Interativo de Astronomia e Inovação em Educação

Rosa Doran, is president of NUCLIO, a non-profit association and NGO for development. MsC in High Energies and Gravitation and PhD in Science Education. She is the coordinator of several projects related to science outreach and education. with a main focus on Innovation in Education. She is currently the chair of the panel of education of COSPAR and a member of the Centre for Earth and Space Research of the University of Coimbra (CITEUC).

Yamila Miguel

Leiden Observatory and SRON

I am an astrophysicist working to understand our place in the Universe. My research primarily focuses on the atmospheres, interiors, and formation mechanisms of both exoplanets and the planets within our Solar System. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I was always curious and knew I was going to be a scientist. I pursued my B.S. in Astronomy from La Plata National University, graduating in 2007. My doctoral work, completed in 2011, revolved around the formation of planetary systems, and I was honored to be supported by the CONICET during this period. My postdoc years took me to the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (2011-2014), where I delved into exoplanetary atmospheric chemistry. From 2015 to 2017, I was at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur with a H. Poincare and later a CNES fellowship, where I studied giant planets’ interiors and started my journey as part of the Juno mission science team. In 2018, I accepted a position as an assistant professor at Leiden Observatory. Further expanding my research horizons, I also affiliated with SRON in 2020. My work at both institutions has been centered around the intricate study of (exo)planetary atmospheres and interiors, aiming to provide a more comprehensive understanding of planetary evolution and origins. I am also proud to mention that since 2023, I have been the Principal Investigator for the ERC consolidator grant N-GINE. Finally but not least, I was awarded an Honor medal by NASA this year, for my exceptional contributions to the Juno mission. https://www.yamilamiguel.com/

Ekaterini Maria Rozi

Geology Educator, Science Laboratory Administrator, Greek Literature Teacher

"Ekaterini Maria Rozi studied Geology at NKUA, specialized in Dynamic Tectonics and Applied Geology. She worked as a researcher for the NKUA Geology department, hydrogeological study of Thriptis, in 1994. She then worked as a substitute IT teacher in Private Schools. In 2007 she was appointed to the Public Service through a written exam ASEP (first place in Greece). Since September 2008, she has been a science teacher at the 3rd Junior Highschool of Glyfada, where, since 2012, has been the head of the school science laboratory and, since 2022, trainer of educational geologists for the Educational Policy Institute. She speaks English, French and German. As for Art, she has been in charge of the School's Theatrical Group since 2016"

Jorge Rivero Gonzalez

Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC)

Jorge Rivero González is the Head of the Communication & Outreach Office of the Institute of Space Sciences (Spain). He was the IAU 100th anniversary Celebrations (IAU100) Global Coordinator and was part of the global organisation of the UN International Year of Light 2015 and the UNESCO International Day of Light. From 2009, he has been a member of the outreach initiative GalileoMobile. He holds a PhD in Astrophysics from the Ludwig Maximilians University (Germany) and a postgraduate degree in Science Journalism and Communication from the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (Spain). His work for IAU100 received the 2020 Dutch Research Council (NWO) Communication Award for its reach and international impact in promoting astronomy.

Gustavo Iachel

Universidade Estadual de Londrina

Licenciado em Física (UNESP/Bauru), Doutor em Educação para a Ciências pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação para a Ciência da Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP - Bauru) e Mestre pelo mesmo Programa. Professor Associado da Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL) - Centro de Ciências Exatas - Departamento de Física. Pesquisa na área de Ensino de Ciências com ênfase em Ensino de Física, Astronomia, Formação de Professores e Construção de telescópios. Professor e orientador no Programa de Pós-graduação em Ensino de Ciências e Educação Matemática (PECEM) da UEL.

Gwen Sanderson

IAU's Office of Astronomy for Education

joined Haus der Astronomie as Organisational Assistant, for the Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on 1st April 2020. BA (Hons) in Modern Languages and International Studies (1980-1984). During the last 20 years I have worked in event management positions both in the Academic world and in a Business environment with all levels of executive within client organisations as well as academics from postgraduate students through to Nobel Prize winners. I have lived and worked in diverse international environments, Venezuela, El Salvador, United Kingdom, Spain, France and Germany and feel comfortable in multi-cultural situations as well as communicating effectively in three languages.