COLORADO STUDENTS BENEFIT FROM DIALOGUE WITH HARVARD-SMITHSONIAN ASTRONOMER

Cambridge, MA -- The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) is reaching out across the nation to help educate future generations. On Wednesday, November 20, 2002, one of CfA's premier astronomers will hold a videoconference interview with students 1,800 miles away in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Smithsonian astrophysicist Dr. Sallie Baliunas, an expert on the Sun's variations and other factors in climate change, will speak to a class of students at Dunn Elementary School. The students are participating in a "Research and Multimedia" class taught by Amy Black, who, earlier this year, was recognized as one of the top teachers in the country with a presidential award.

In this class, students conduct research on a subject of their choosing using a wide variety of resources. Part of that research includes interviewing an expert in the field. The students then produce a multimedia presentation on what they have learned and present their results to the rest of the school in two general assemblies.

The class's advisor, Jim Kelly of Syscom Services, requested Dr. Baliunas to answer questions about the science of astronomy and her career as an astronomer. Dr. Baliunas's credentials include serving as Deputy Director of Mount Wilson Observatory and a Director of the Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium. She co-hosts the website TechCentralStation.com and leads its "Enviro-Sci" section on environmental science. She has written more than 250 scientific research articles. In 1991, Discover magazine profiled her as one of America's outstanding women scientists.

Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) is a joint collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory. CfA scientists organized into six research divisions study the origin, evolution, and ultimate fate of the universe.

For more information, contact:

David A. Aguilar
Director of Public Affairs
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
617-495-7462
daguilar@cfa.harvard.edu

Christine Lafon
Public Affairs Specialist
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Phone: 617-495-7463, Fax: 617-495-7016
clafon@cfa.harvard.edu

Jim Kelly, CEO
Syscom Services
Phone: 970-472-6072
jim@syscomservices.com