Maria Mitchell Association Announces Staff Change in Astronomy

September 26, 2024

NANTUCKET, MA –After nine years at the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) as its Director of Astronomy, Dr. Regina Jorgenson will be leaving the MMA for a tenure-track professorship in Astronomy at California State Polytechnic University Humboldt (Cal Poly Humboldt). The MMA is excited for Dr. Jorgenson to take this step in her career. Since 2016, she has received and supervised several National Science Foundation grants, led the esteemed National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) program in astronomy, and led Open Nights at Loines Observatory and other astronomy-related programs.

 

A former MMA NSF- REU intern, Dr. Jorgenson worked under Dr. Vladimir Strelnitski, former Director of the MMA Observatory who revitalized the MMA’s Astronomy Program, as an assistant. She will be an excellent addition to the Astronomy department at Cal Poly Humboldt and they are fortunate to have her expertise.      The MMA, its Executive Director Joanna Roche, and its Board of Directors are grateful for her good work and wish her well in her new endeavor.

 

The MMA is pleased to announce that it has hired Dr. Geoff Clayton as its Interim Director of Astronomy.  Dr. Clayton, a Nantucket visitor going back to his youth and a year-round island resident, recently retired from Louisiana State University as the chair of the Astronomy Department and the Ball Family Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy.  A longtime member of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), he is a past Vice President of the AAS and for several years worked as a summer Assistant Director of Astronomy at the MMA with Dr. Strelnitski.  Dr. Clayton continues to work on his research; his areas of interest include binary white-dwarf mergers, circumstellar and interstellar dust in the Local Group, and dust formation and evolution in core-collapse in supernovae.  Clayton will assist with the running of the MMA’s Astronomy Department and its public programs, including Open Nights at Loines Observatory.

 

The MMA has begun its search process for a new, full-time MMA Director of Astronomy. To find the right individual for this important position, the MMA will be creating a search committee made up of astronomers, former MMA NSF-REU interns, and board members. 


For Immediate Release

September 26, 2024

Contact: Joanna Roche

jroche@mariamitchell.org

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Raise The Roof!

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • April 6, 2026
Well, actually replace the roof! With funding from the Community Preservation Act and the work of Lydon and Sons, Inc. the Mitchell House is getting a new roof. The current one had come to the end of its useful life. A cedar roof can last a long time – longer than asphalt – and is more historically accurate. The roof we are removing was installed in about 1992 – replacing a roof from the 1930s that was not cedar but a combination of materials that actually yes, did last sixty years. The unfortunate issue has arisen that the roofwalk (walk) has to be replaced. This is NOT the original walk – nor that old of a walk. It’s likely from the 1970s or so and has been cobbled at over time. It’s not a functioning walk – no one is allowed on it – but the Mitchell House needs it none the less. Maria Mitchell and her father, William, likely used the walk for astronomical observations – in addition to the yard – but the walk is also protected as part of the preservation easement on the House. Walks – NOT and NEVER called widow’s walks – were used for preventing and putting out chimney fire and roof fires. In a place where wood was expensive and had to be brought from “the main” these were purely utilitarian. What good Quaker (or non-Quaker) would build a platform for his wife to stare out to the harbor to see if her husband was on his way home? The other issue is that the walk was completely resting on the ridge board – and actually was notched to accept the pitch and tip of the ridge board so they couldn’t work around it. I suspect this may have been the ways walks were once built – and also a crafty and smart thinking carpenter who came up with the idea. It makes the walk lower. But between that issue and the age of the walk and then the blizzard of February 2026 that packed gusts over 83 MPH (that’s Category 1 hurricane winds) the walk gave in. Balusters had been knocked out and the railings were loose and pulling away from the posts. So, we will also be working with Barber and Sons to create a new roofwalk – and they agreed to do this for us quickly which is also no small feat given how busy everyone is these days. So from the bottom of the Mitchell House’s heart (and mine) a big thank you to Chris Lydon and Lydon and Sons and crew, Barber and Sons / Beau and Nate Barber, the Community Preservation Committee, and Nantucket Preservation Trust (our easement holder)! JNLF

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NANTUCKET, MA—The Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) invites the community to “Dark and Quiet: Astronomy in the Age of Satellite Constellation” presented by Dr. Joshua Reding for its April Science Speaker Series. This free presentation will take place Wednesday, April 15 from 7 – 8pm on Zoom. In the past decade, the number of active satellites in Earth’s orbit has grown by a factor of 10. This breakneck growth in the commercial space industry has turned entrepreneur, investor, and policymaker eyes to the skies, but in the process has boxed out the historic stewards of the space domain: scientists. Explorers and pioneers across human history learned that uncharted territory hides unprecedented challenges, but the consequences of decisions made towards occupying the “final frontier” do not abide by international borders. Space operators therefore ignore the warnings and concerns of scientists not only at their own risk, but at the risk of everyone living under increasingly crowded skies. In this conversation, Dr. Josh Reding will explain how astronomers are trying to inform and guide policymaking for the rapidly changing space environment, both informally through volunteer action and advocacy and formally in domestic and international policy forums. Dr. Reding is an optical astronomer by training and now a radio spectrum manager by profession. He completed his B.A. with a double major in Astronomy-Physics and Philosophy at Colgate University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research investigated unusual white dwarf stars that likely formed in stellar mergers as “failed” supernovae and he has also designed astronomical instrument components and installed them at world-class observatories. Concurrent with the completion of his Ph.D., Reding began his professional science policy career as a North Carolina STEM Policy Fellow in the NC Department of Commerce’s Office of Science, Technology & Innovation. He was then selected for the American Association for the Advancement of Science Science & Technology Policy Fellowship, which places scientists in federal offices as expert contributors to ongoing agency missions. This event will be held via Zoom. Pre-registration is required. To register for the free, virtual event, use the registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5MoAybp5QHCasQ0QE5xmgQ#/registration The Science Speaker Series is generously sponsored by the Maria Mitchell Association’s lead sponsor, Bank of America. The Maria Mitchell Association was founded in 1902 to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. After she discovered a comet in 1847, Mitchell’s international fame led to many achievements and awards, including an appointment as the first professor of astronomy at Vassar College. Maria Mitchell believed in “learning by doing” and today that philosophy is reflected in the MMA’s mission statement, programs, research projects, and other activities. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages. ###
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