 Photograph © Guillaume Poulin |
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Washington DC Office
Bob Parks is founder of the Virginia Outdoor Lighting Taskforce (VOLT), an all-volunteer, non-profit, grassroots advocacy group since 2000. Its mission is to promote safe and efficient outdoor lighting. VOLT has been successful helping localities in Virginia to enact lighting ordinances and was instrumental in the passage of legislation to require that all state facilities purchase only full cut-off fixtures.
Mr. Parks is an avid amateur astronomer and past president of the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club, the largest of its kind in the United States. He has been a member of International Dark-Sky Association since 2000. In 2005, he founded the Almost Heaven Star Party at Spruce Knob, WV, one of the darkest observing sites on the East Coast.
In March of 2009, Mr. Parks joined IDA to launch the Washington Office for Public Policy and Government Affairs. As managing director, he was charged with keeping Congress and federal agencies up-to-date regarding IDA’s mission and its issues. In addition, he is working to build a coalition of environmental and energy organizations that have parallel goals to reduce light pollution, conserve energy, and preserve the natural environment.
In June 2010 the IDA Board appointed Mr. Parks as Executive Director.
Milt has a lifelong interest in astronomy and became active in the International Dark Sky Association after he attended IDA’s Night Sky Symposium held in Washington DC in February 2007. Seeing a need he felt he could help fill, he volunteered to support IDA in its governmental relations. Using expertise developed in earlier jobs and tapping into connections known to IDA, he was able to expand and improve IDA’s relations with Congress, and was instrumental in setting up IDA’s first Congressional briefings in 2008. These briefings demonstrated the potential benefits of a full time IDA Washington office, which was established in March 2009. His part time position as Associate Director for Government Affairs and Public Policy in the new Washington office leaves time for occasional jaunts to his tiny observatory in the Shenandoah Mountains.
Prior to becoming involved with IDA, Milt spent a year as a lobbyist for a non-profit in Washington. That position was preceded by over three decades of federal government service, in which he gained knowledge of the federal bureaucracy and the ways that government organizations work with each other. Milt has a master’s degree in public administration from The American University and won the IDA Executive Director’s Award in 2008. Tucson Office
An astral photographer since age five, Pete Strasser has long been interested in the practical and aesthetic effects of light. A degree in plant pathology from the University of California, Davis imparted detailed insight in the composition and effects of different light sources. This knowledge proved to be invaluable when he was hired at IDA in 2006 as Technical Advisor.
Now Managing Director, Pete travels the world to discuss common sense about bad lighting practices and simple ways to mitigate them. He is head of IDA’s Fixture Seal of Approval program, which now certifies products from over 90 lighting manufacturers worldwide. He serves on the Illuminating Engineering Society of North American (IESNA) – IDA joint Model Lighting Ordinance task force, for which he received the IESNA President’s Award, and the Aviation lighting Recommended Practices document. In addition, Pete serves on the IESNA Research Committee. He is Chairman of the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) Technical Committee on the Effects of Artificial Light and the Natural Environment. He works closely with the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency to establish criteria for their EnergyStar programs relating to Outdoor Solid State Lighting (SSL). Pete is highly sought after for his technical expertise in SSL technologies and their relations to dark sky efforts. Many other institutions are interested in the dark sky concept, and Pete works with them to promote efficient and effective lighting practices.
Susan has worked for IDA for almost six years. The longest-serving current employee, she has enjoyed seeing the tremendous change in public awareness of the issues regarding light pollution. As Membership Director, Susan organizes the IDA database and interfaces directly with general membership. Most anyone who calls during business hours will hear Susan’s pleasant voice on the telephone. Members and volunteers often remark on Susan’s competence and polite demeanor. Her broad business background, encompassing sales, purchasing, and administration helps Susan slowly but surely increase IDA’s member base. In an effort to expand IDA’s sphere of influence, she has started to restructure membership retention efforts, and has initiated several successful campaign drives.
In addition to managing our active membership system, Susan has recently taken on payroll and other fiduciary duties. Her bachelor’s degree in business administration from George Washington University has helped hail changes in IDA’s accounting system that will expedite the public posting of public financial records and have already prevented numerous headaches from donors and financial administrators.
Originally from New York, Susan has been a Tucson transplant for 22 years. A dedicated mother of two, she is happy to share her children’s interest in sports and exercise, and can discourse endlessly on football.
In her work for IDA, Rowena is privileged to assimilate two of her passions: writing and nature. She strives to portray the night as a venue for conservation, inspiration, and collaboration and to highlight the outstanding efforts of IDA volunteers and staff. To promote global interest in light pollution, she aims to report technical and scientific developments in a context that is both interesting and precise. Her goal as editor of Nightscape is to broaden all people’s relationship with the nighttime experience by exploring the significance of natural nights from unusual angles.
An Arizona native, Rowena missed the unyielding desert sky while attaining her degree in English at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA—especially during a memorable attempt to view a meteor shower while sprawling in snow. She started working at IDA in 2008, after honing her communication skills as an advocate for system safety at the Hazard Information Foundation, Inc., where she prepared grants, articles, and studies, gave technical presentations, and helped edit the book Construction Safety Engineering Principles: Designing and Managing Safer Job Sites, by David MacCollum P.E., CSP.
Johanna has been working for the International Dark-Sky Association for one year. As Sections Liaison, she distributes research, educational materials, and networking opportunities to our 55 Sections throughout the world. Her past work experience in retail management and government employment has given her skills to work with all kinds of different groups and backgrounds. Her position of organizing advocates to fight light pollution is a dream job, as she can use her marketing degree and human resources experience to create materials, presentations, and dynamic ways to educate the public about solutions to the global problem of light pollution. Her enthusiasm and skill has paid off. In the past year, IDA has signed on 10 new Sections and one affiliate in Poland.
Since coming to IDA, she’s been amazed that light pollution impacts so many lives, for many different reasons, and has observed that our volunteers are very passionate about all of them. Growing up, she formed wonderful memories while camping several times a year with her family in state and national parks. She’s pleased that she can be a part of the solution to light pollution so others can also enjoy the nighttime environment.
As graphics coordinator, Stephanie is faced with the task of creating images that capture the splendor of a pristine sky in decidedly less natural settings. Long interested in art and new media, Stephanie brings a practical sensibility to this directive. She is responsible for the appearance of all IDA materials, and is constantly experimenting with images and formats for a look that is polished yet dramatic.
With IDA since 2006, she is an architect of Nightscape’s transition from a two-color newsletter to a full color publication. Her affection for typography helps her to present the articles in a visually appealing and readable format. She admits, though, that the Associated Press Style Guide is the bane of her existence.
Stephanie earned a bachelor’s of fine arts with an emphasis in photography from the University of Arizona in 2004. Originally from San Diego, California, Stephanie spent her youth enjoying days on the sunny beaches. Stephanie now enjoys yoga and Arizona summer nights, and hopes to one day see firsthand both the Aurora Borealis and the arc of the Milky Way, so often depicted in the beautiful photographs she uses.
As primary coordinator for events and conferences she’s had the honor of organizing the IDA Annual Conference, the 2009 business meeting, and the Night Symposium. She also acted as the lead coordinator for the initial round of Congressional briefings held in 2008. An active participant on the International Dark-Sky Places committee, she is helping to create global criteria for nighttime sky clarity. Her interest in sustainable development practices helps her work directly with night sky conservation efforts.
Kim has been working to protect the night for over three years. In that time, she has become wholly engrossed with the night sky. On a recent business trip to Great Basin National Park in Nevada, USA a dust storm that prevented clear viewing of one of the darkest, driest skies in the United States disappointed her so sorely that she reconsidered her role as a guardian of starscapes… for approximately 30 seconds.
Kim is a proud graduate of the University of Arizona with a degree in political science and European history. Her graduate work in urban and environmental planning is especially useful as IDA increases its involvement in city management and energy use through outdoor lighting plans. Kim is also a member of the American Planning Association, the Urban Land Institute, and the International CPTED Association.
Matt has been with IDA for three years. He currently works with lighting manufacturers, designers, and distributors to certify products through the IDA Fixture Seal of Approval (FSA) program. Knowledgeable in photometry with a keen interest in the aesthetics of fixture design, Matt enjoys seeing the innovation of lighting experts firsthand. Well aware that a variety of lighting must be used to achieve any quality outdoor lighting plan, Matt has worked to expand the FSA program from public and commercial lighting to include residential applications and dark sky friendly devices. Matt helps promote this and other IDA programs at lighting tradeshows and conferences across the country.
Matt grew up in Maryland and received a bachelor’s degree in art and design at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. His interest in architecture and green design is applied in both his professional and his personal life. In his spare time, he enjoys working on architectural paintings which he shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the UK.
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