by Melanie Catania
Astronomers from Vanderbilt and Fisk universities might not be able to take students to the stars, but they can bring the stars to them. With a grant from NASA, the astronomers have created a roadshow for area schools and community centers using a portable, inflatable planetarium with the goal of interesting minority students in science as a career.

“By projecting a representation of the night sky onto the dome's interior, we are able to teach students about the Sun-Earth-Moon system, the solar-system planets and their motions, the constellations and Greek mythology, the nature of stars and many other celestial phenomena in a fun yet informative manner,” said David James, research assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Vanderbilt and an adjunct professor at Fisk.

James and his colleagues at Fisk, Vanderbilt and its Dyer Observatory and Tennessee State University have adapted the program for children as young as 5 years old all the way through adults. As a result of the program, more than 600 children and adults have been through the planetarium so far, including teachers participating in in-service training activities. Approximately 70 percent of the participants have been minorities.

“You can use it to teach more and more advanced physics and astronomy, depending on the age of the students,” James said. “You can also use it to teach the community about general science and the night sky, the importance of astronomy and the role of teaching their children.”

The Fisk-Vanderbilt NASA Roadshow is part of the larger Fisk Astronomy and Space Science Training Program, which mentors undergraduates and graduate students with the goal of increasing the number of minority students pursuing doctoral degrees in the physical sciences. The program is largely funded by a grant to Fisk from NASA designed to build relationships between historically minority-serving institutions, like Fisk, and strong research universities, like Vanderbilt.

“We are trying to solve the problem of under representation of minorities in the physical sciences, and in astronomy and space science specifically,” said Keivan Stassun, a co-director of the program and assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Vanderbilt with an adjunct appointment at Fisk.

“If you ask in 10 years’ time, who will be the minority students getting Ph.D.’s in astrophysics at Vanderbilt, those people are now matriculating freshmen somewhere, so it’s important to make investments in the pre-college arena. That’s where the roadshow fits in,” he continued.

The Fisk-Vanderbilt partnership includes a new minor in astrophysics at Fisk, merit scholarships for undergraduates, mentoring and training, and a joint master’s-Ph.D. program between the two universities.

“This collaboration further strengthens Fisk’s commitment to research in the space sciences,” said Arnold Burger, associate professor of physics at Fisk and a co-director of the program. “The NASA grant allows the Fisk faculty to enhance our undergraduate curriculum, provide scholarships for deserving Fisk students and help them to smoothly transition into doctoral programs in astronomy and astrophysics. It also allows us to better serve the community and increase our student recruiting efforts.”

Posted 9/29/04