Perhaps one or two of the subscribers to these postings will remember me
as a colleague, my career having encompassed science center and natural
history museum positions in Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, and
Phoenix
(in both planetarium and education positions). Recently I joined the
staff of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), here in
Baltimore, where my job, in the Office of Public Outreach, is to work
cooperatively with museums, science centers, and planetariums. The
purpose of this message is thus primarily to say hello, to let you know
that you've got an "official" contact here.

Having fulfilled these introductory formalities with grace and aplomb, I
thought I might presume to pass along some information of potential
interest...

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR EDUCATION PROJECTS
Museum educators who have creative ideas for unique, inventive astronomy
and space science educational projects should know about two NASA-funded
grant programs that are administered here at STScI.

One is called IDEAS (Initiative to Develop Education through Astronomy
and Space Science). The other lacks a snappy acronym (for the next
observing/funding cycle it is called Cycle 9 E/PO, for Education &
Public Outreach) but is an opportunity for funded Hubble Space Telescope
(HST) observers to supplement their major observation grants with
associated education and public outreach projects.

The Main Points:

* Although many of the grant applications we receive involve schools, we
certainly regard practitioners in science centers, planetariums and
museums to be "educators" and welcome proposals from them/you.

* The maximum award for an IDEAS grant is $40K. The maximum award for an
observer's E/PO grant is $10K, although observers with multiple
observing grants have combined associated E/PO awards up to a $50K cap.

* A scientist must be the PI (Principal Investigator), heading the
grant. Educators are encouraged to link with scientists in collaborative
efforts. How can you find a scientist? See "How To Find A Scientist,"
below.

* The grant programs are intended to fund innovative start-up programs,
preferably those that leverage existing resources. They are not intended
to support on-going programs, conventional classroom teaching, or
general operations.

* Both grant programs occur on one year cycles.

* The next call for proposals for IDEAS will be posted on our web site
in mid July, with proposals due in October. Although details are subject
to change, you can get a "heads up" on the process by reviewing last
year's IDEAS information, which can be accessed at:
http://ideas.stsci.edu/

* The Cycle 9 E/PO grants will work a little differently. Since only a
small percentage of HST observing proposals are funded, we wait until
that has happened before soliciting E/PO proposals. (This way,
applicants whose primary observational proposals are not funded are not
burdened with assembling futile E/PO proposals.) There is a
two month period between the award of observing time and the due date
for E/PO proposals (in December). I'm looking into ways to effectively
link observers to eager educators during this window. Stay tuned. (In
the meantime you can review information on last year's Cycle 8 E/PO
proposal information at: http://origins.stsci.edu/cycle8/)

HOW TO FIND A SCIENTIST
Since both of the grant opportunities above require a bona fide research
scientist (astronomer or space scientist or funded HST observer for
Cycle 9 E/PO) you have to link up with one. If you can do that through
your own initiative, great. If you need some help, you can...

* Contact the NASA Broker/Facilitator for your region. This person can
help arrange the marriage. To find the Broker/Facilitator for your part
of the USA, see this web page: http://origins.stsci.edu/broker.shtml

* Contact me.

WEB-BASED EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES DEVELOPED HERE
When you have a minute, check out our Amazing Space web-based astronomy
lessons. These interactive modules are developed here through a unique
consortium of classroom teachers, STScI astronomers, and our own
graphics designers and programmers. They comply with both the National
Research Council's National Science Standards and the AAAS' Project 2061
criteria. Teachers like them. So do kids. You can review them at
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/. More lessons are in the pipeline and
will be added as completed. (If you'd like to link your own internet
site to Amazing Space, contact me for a nifty gif button. I'll even
throw in
a line of html code for free, just to cinch the deal!)

GETTING IMAGES
As you know, there is a conveyer belt bringing fabulous images from
space to this building. We want to make certain that you have access to
these images. If you have a film recorder and want to make your own
slides or negatives, you can download the highest resolution tiff files
from our web site. First, you can review thumbnails at
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pictures.html and then download the
tiffs from http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/tiff/.

If you are interested in receiving slides or prints directly for
exhibition purposes, we would be amenable to working out some sort of
arrangement similar to the one we're now putting in place with the
International Planetarium Society, whereby planetariums subscribe to a
low-cost slide duping and distribution service, provided at cost by the
Society.

UPCOMING PRODUCTS FOR MUSEUMS AND PLANETARIUMS
I'm starting to work on some projects to develop special "products" for
museum and planetarium use. We have substantial photographic, design,
programming, and animation resources here, and much of what has already
been created here can be re-formatted for optimal show and exhibition
use with relatively modest additional effort.

Although there's no shortage of internally-generated ideas here, I would
be happy to hear from interested parties about "best of all possible
worlds" scenarios for a relationship between STScI and the informal
science education community. No promises, of course, but the fact that
the Institute dedicates a full time person to serve the museum and
planetarium community should be encouragement enough.

Finally, please be advised that we welcome ideas for collaborative
projects. Recent projects have included content and concept design
collaboration with the Maryland Science Center, and the Smithsonian
Traveling Exhibition Service, both of whom are unveiling major new
Hubble/Astronomy exhibits this year.

With all best wishes,

John Stoke

P.S. Lest multiple and/or inappropriate postings become a burden,
perhaps you can advise me: I have also dispatched this message to the
ASTC listserv, which serves the "science center" community. I presume
that at least some natural history museums, some of whom perhaps have
astronomy divisions and are not part of the ASTC community, subscribe to
this service. Are messages such as this one of value here?

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 John M. Stoke            Informal Science Education Coordinator
 [log in to unmask]          Office of Public Outreach (OPO)
 410.338.4394             Space Telescope Science Institute
 410.338.4579 FAX         3700 San Martin Drive
 http://www.stsci.edu     Baltimore, MD 21218
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