Richard Crowe to speak at NHERC

Dr. Richard Crowe, professor of astronomy at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and Astronomer-in-Residence at the ʻImiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaiʻi, will speak at UH Hilo‘s North Hawaiʻi Education and Research Center (NHERC) in Honokaʻa on Monday, October 1 at 6:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public.

Crowe will provide the North Hawaiʻi community with an overview of ʻImiloa, including current programming and event highlights. He has been with UH Hilo since 1987 and a professor of astronomy since 1992. In 1991, he was named a Fujio Matsuda Fellow of the University of Hawaiʻi for his scholarly work, and chaired the Physics and Astronomy Department from 1992 to 2002.

He was also Principal Investigator for the New Opportunities through Minority Initiatives in Space Science (NOMISS) grant funded by NASA (2001-2004). The program was developed to encourage Native Hawaiians and other local students from K-12 through undergraduate studies and the professional astronomy community to enter careers in space science by integrating astronomy with Polynesian sky lore, voyaging, and Hawaiian culture. Crowe has continued to do outreach work for astronomy and Hawaiian culture at ʻImiloa by serving as its Astronomer-in-Residence since 2006.

Crowe is the first speaker this fall in a monthly series sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) program at NHERC.

For more information, contact Bill Kunstman at the Center at (808) 775-8890 or email at wkunstma@hawaii.edu.