The only Native American astronomer?Dennis Lamenti believes he is the only Native American astronomer in the U.S. with--or working on--a graduate degree. He actively has sought others through conferences, speeches and committee meetings and comes up empty handed.
But he intends to change that.
The IU graduate student is planning a spring Bloomington campus visit and a retreat for Native American students to a national observatory, and is involved in a nation-wide event, all to bring more Native Americans to the field of astronomy while introducing his culture's astronomic heritage to the world.Comment: I presume Lamenti added the graduate degree qualification to distinguish professional astronomers from amateur astronomers. Some Native people are undoubtedly amateur astronomers.
Writerfella here --
ReplyDeleteWell, yes, writerfella has been an amateur astronomer since he was 9, or 1950, as was his late brother, David Bates, who passed away in 2005. One cannot be a Native science fiction writer and NOT be familiar with astronomy as one of those sciences about which you write. Familiarity with the "Great Darkness" absolutely is necessary if one wishes to know about what one is writing. 'Course that may mean one must write movies before one writes about them, but maybe that's just writerfella...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella