Sky's Up January-February 2018 | Page 50
Although they followed different
career paths (law and computer
science) there is little doubt where
they got their love of learning and
drive to succeed. Dr. Walker’s
accomplishments are inspiring …
and inspiration, itself, is part of
her motivation. “From the days
of Star Trek and the first man on
the moon, I have seen starry skies
opening our minds to endless
possibilities,” explains Walker.
While Walker is motivated
by the humanistic aspect of
protecting night sky heritage,
she is equally in tune with the
significance of preserving dark
skies for astronomy and research.
Walker was herself a radio-
astronomer who helped to build
instrumentation for the Heinrich
Hertz Sub-millimeter Telescope
for Mt. Graham in southeast
Arizona. With an undergraduate
degree in astronomy-physics, a
masters in electrical engineering,
The International Dark-Sky
Association is the recognized
authority on light pollution.
We work to protect and
restore the natural nighttime
environment through
outreach, public policy,
conservation, and the
certification of environmentally
responsible outdoor lighting.
and a Ph.D. in astronomy, Walker
is one of those rare individuals
who values night skies from both
the humanities and the scientific
perspectives with equal depth.
Walker easily identifies the
heroes who inspired her, many
of them notable women in the
field of astronomy. Waltraut
Seitter, director of the Astronomy
Department at Muenster
Universitaet in Germany was “a
powerhouse” who invited Walker
as a student to work with her at the
observatory in Germany. Dorrit
Hoffleit of Yale was the director of
the Maria Mitchell Observatory on
Nantucket Island and gave Walker
her first summer job. And Maria
Mitchell was herself the first
female astronomer in the U.S., a
comet-finder in the 1840s who was
not recognized as a scientist in her
home country, though the Queen
of Denmark honored her.
When Walker describes the
education projects she and her
team have created, it’s impossible
not to hear in her voice a sense
of maternal pride, love, and
concern. Equally clear is a
scientist’s insight—and a dark-sky
advocate’s hope for the future of
night on Earth.
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