Annual Report

WORKING GROUP FOR

PROFESSIONAL-AMATEUR COLLABORATION

July 2002 - June 2003

 

The working group for professional-amateur collaboration (WGPAC) is now four years old and moving into the fifth year of its original, five-year charter. Since its creation in January 1999, the group has devoted considerable discussion to the question of how best to foster collaborative research relationships between professional and amateur astronomers. Indeed, the working group itself is the articulation of a desire by members of the two communities for greater dialogue and interaction in science.

 

Past efforts by WGPAC have been directed at bringing attention to the group's aims and goals and to successful Pro-Am collaborations. From publication of articles on Pro-Am activities in mainstream magazines to hosting sessions at AAS and other organizations' meetings, WGPAC has attempted to always bring attention to collaborations between professional and amateurs astronomers and to demonstrate the value of such efforts--for science, in general, and for the engagement of greater numbers of people in genuine research, in particular.

 

Activities

Quite often committees or working groups such as WGPAC will state in annual reports that, in the next year, the group will be doing "more of the same." This is true (with a twist) for the working group as we continue to tout via print and electronic publications and in various meeting venues the benefits of Pro-Am collaborations: more telescopes for idea-rich and telescope-poor professionals, wider engagement of more people in scientific research, etc.

 

Members of WGPAC believe it is important that professional and amateur astronomers have opportunity to come together and share what it is they do--and hopefully forge collaborative relationships. Ongoing efforts by WGPAC members' organizations include past or upcoming symposia and/or special sessions at meetings hosted by, among others, the AAS, the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and the Astronomical League. In the past year alone, at least three meetings and events have concentrated on Pro-Am activities:

 

·      Second High-Energy Astrophysics Workshop for Amateur Astronomers      two-day meeting in July 2002 sponsored by the AAVSO and NASA's MSFC

 

·      Pro-Am Collaboration Workshop on Photometry of Faint Solar System Bodies special one-day event at the August 2002 Astronomical League Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah

 

·      Minor Planet Pro-Am Workshop four-day meeting held in August 2002 in Terre Haute, Indiana

 

This next year will also contain meetings that concentrate on current or potential Pro-Am efforts (e.g., the Minor Planet Amateur Professional Workshop scheduled for June 2003 in Phoenix, Arizona), and more articles on such work will appear as WGPAC continues to spread its message among professional and amateur astronomers.

 

WGPAC's past activities continue, to be sure, but three efforts critical to the working group's mission have been intensified in the past year: communication, focus, and "presence." The first, and perhaps most important, change is that members of the working group are in regular email and voice contact. WGPAC conference calls are held each month. Following a several-month-long period of introduction and general discussion in 2002, calls are now directed toward specific activities and task assignments for individual group members. 

 

These regular telemeetings have permitted the working group to discuss issues relating to our charge by the AAS, to prioritize our activities, and to maintain our momentum. At the top of the priority list, and the activity on which the group is now focused, is creation of an electronic presence for the WGPAC on the web. Among elements to be or already included on the group's evolving site at URL www.aas.org/wgpac are: information to professionals and amateurs for establishing collaborations; a Pro-Am registry, akin to an on-line dating or matchmaker service, through which registered users may search for collaboration "mates" or groups based on research topics, equipment available, data needed, and so on; resource links for ongoing Pro-Am work; and short articles on various success stories in Pro-Am collaborations.

 

WGPAC cannot function without attention and care from professional and amateur astronomy organizations. The working group's website sits on the AAS site, and now we are bringing amateur organizations to join us there, in a sense. We contacted fifteen organizations--examples include the AAVSO, the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, the International Small Telescope Consortium, and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada--and requested they have a presence on the WGPAC website. Each group will supply or has supplied a short, organizational description and logo. In turn, the groups, who collectively have very many members, place links on their websites to the WGPAC site. Because we expect email traffic to increase as the WGPAC site is populated with information and the registry goes live, we requested and were given an email address for WGPAC through the AAS: email to wgpac@aas.org is forwarded to the Chair of WGPAC.

 

Membership

Members of the working group are united in the opinion that WGPAC has great momentum, a good focus on critical activities and needs in both the near and far terms, and a membership that should not be changed--save for one addition. Joining us in an informal fashion late in 2002 was Jeff Stoner, a member of the AAS who came to the group via an amateur path. Jeff volunteered his coding and webmastering talents to WGPAC and, working with the AAS's Information Technology Manager, Debbie Kovalsky, has already begun work on the WGPAC site.

 

In another group membership matter, I have served as WGPAC's Chair for the past year. The position has been one of pleasure for me, and each member of the group has requested individually that I continue as Chair.

 

For these reasons I seek approval of the AAS Council for the following WGPAC membership:

 

James C. White II (Chair), 2001 - 2004    

Kelly Beatty, 2001 - 2004

Gary Henson, 2002 - 2005

Janet Mattei, 2002 - 2005

Terry Oswalt, 2002 - 2005   

John Percy, 2002 - 2005   

Janet Stevens, 2002 - 2005

Jeff Stoner, 2003 - 2006

 

WGPAC Goals for 2003-4

The AAS working group for professional-amateur collaboration has the following goals for the next year:

 

• fully populate the WGPAC website at www.aas.org/wgpac to become the source for information on forming and executing Pro-Am collaborations;

 

• bring online and through the WGPAC website a Pro-Am registry of individuals and groups interested in working with professional astronomers;

 

• continue to organize topical workshops in which amateurs and professionals can interact and forge research relationships;

 

• continue to publish in print or electronic venues articles on Pro-Am and WGPAC activities; and

 

• involve amateur and Pro-Am organizations outside North America in WGPAC's efforts.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

James C. White II

WGPAC, Chair

Lester Crain Professor of Physics, Rhodes College