Dear Colleagues,
My name is Kevin Nolan. I've been a member of this forum for some time but haven't posted before. By way of introduction, I'm the Volunteer Coordinator for The Planetary Society (TPS), a large global space exploration outreach organisation set up by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray and Louis Friedman in 1980. I've been representing TPS for some years at this stage, albeit on a low key basis
I run occasional outreach events; and in fact TPS is going through a rejuvenation at the moment so I hope to run more events such as lectures, and a yearly TPS night with a keynote speaker. All of that will depend on resources and time availability over the next year or two but I am optimistic of achieving something worthwhile along those lines.
Another aspect of TPS I'm keen to set in motion over the coming years is a programme of advocacy for astronomy and space science, both on an Irish and a European level, and as and when initiatives arise along these lines, I'll be delighted to post details. TPS is very strong in this regard in the US, and I hope to follow their lead in areas of highlighting 'how space exploration is done' on an Irish and European policy level, and how they may be improved through public advocacy.
If you are interested in The Planetary Society in general, please check out their excellent web site at:
planetary.org
You do not need to join to follow TPS events - we're genuinely not interested in a "hard sell" for members - and I think if you look over the web site you'll see this to be the case, in particular the blog section is very strong and active, with the exquisite regular blogs by TPS Chief Editor Emily Lakdawalla, and their Advocacy Officer Case Dreier being all free to access.
I occasionally blog (see link below), and am hoping to gather momentum in this regard along four major themes: Mars, Life in the Universe, Cosmic Perspectives and The Future of Space Exploration. I blog at:
planetarie.wordpress.com
Finally, I should point out that TPS is always looking for new volunteers, and if you feel this is something you'd be interested in getting involved with please do drop me a line at info@planetarie.ie; or contact TPS in the US directly (I hold no vito in this regard I assure you !!)
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and hopefully I will have an opportunity to interact on a slightly more regular basis, as and when TPS Ireland events and talks occur.
To that end, I'm delighted to have been invited to Galway by GAS on March 4th next, where I'll give a talk called "An Emerging Cosmic Perspective" which will feature the ESO Vista 9 GigaPixel image of our Milky Way and the 1GigaPixel HST Image of M31; among other spectacular images from the likes of HST, Spitzer, WISE, Herschel and ESO VLT.
To that end - to all societies and clubs thinking of running an event on April 23rd next to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of HST, be sure to check out the ESA web site below where you may access free promotion and media materials:
spacetelescope.org/announcements/ann1503/
Very best regards,
Kevin.
  