1. Planetary Scientist Pascal Lee Wins 2015 Subaru/AAAS Children’s Book Prize February 5,2015Edna DeVore/SETI Institute/edevore@seti.org Pascal Lee has been designated a winner of the 2015 American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books and Film Prize for Excellence in Children’s Science Books. Titled Mission: Mars, Lee’s book not only conveys fascinating facts about the Red Planet, but by describing the nuts and bolts of future human expeditions, shows middle school students that science is not a subject to be feared, but one to be embraced. Mission: Mars is published by Scholastic. Lee receives the award Feb 14, 2015 at the AAAS Annual Meeting, in San Jose, CA. Pascal Lee is a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute and the Mars Institute, and directs the NASA Haughton Mars Project, a planetary analog field research project on Devon Island in the Arctic. Lee is based at NASA Ames Research Center. Mission: Mars is his first book.More information at: http://www.seti.org/seti-institute/pascal-lee- wins-childrens-book-prize

2. LIGHT: Beyond the Bulb Chandra project for IYL, funded by the international society for optics and photonics (SPIE) & the International Astronomical Union (IAU); awarded IAU Cornerstone Status ~100 exhibits in progress for US, Argentina, France, Serbia, Mauritius, Canada, Portugal, Brazil, India, S. Africa, UK, etc. SPIE funded exhibits at US airport (O’Hare - opening Feb/Mar), January American Astronomical Society conference, Opening IYL Ceremonies (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Paris), IAU General Assembly, & many others. Provides global volunteers free online repository of curated materials to create exhibits according to local needs; showcased in public spaces (libraries, airports, community centers, malls); Creates connections with physics, optics, photonics, climate & atmospheric science, astrophysics; Incorporates Chandra, Hubble's 25th, Spitzer & others, across the electromagnetic spectrum. February 6, 2015Kimberly Kowal Arcand – kkowal@cfa.harvard.edu HTTP://LIGHTEXHIBIT.ORG Multidisciplinary public science project launched for the International Year of Light 2015 (IYL)

3. NASA Center for Astronomy Education* Holds Tier I Teaching Excellence Workshop in Conjunction with the 225 th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society Educator Evaluation Responses: “The most effective piece was the role-playing we did as teachers and as students. Actively putting those tools we learned into practice was extremely valuable.” —graduate student “Most effective, the acting out of Think-Pair-Share and the Lecture-Tutorial implementation. Because I could see where I need improvement.” —instructor, 4-year research institution “Student/teacher role-playing because discourse is the way I learn! Multiple chances at the roles helped to refine what we were learning.” —community college instructor 27 current and future astronomy and space science educators attended 85% were from 2- and 4-year colleges and universities, with the others at high schools 30% were instructors at community colleges 52% were female 33% were undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs Participants represented 9 different states Detecting Exoplanets Using the Transit Method was featured curriculum * Sponsored by the Exoplanet Exploration Program

4. HyperWall Presentations at 225th AAS Meeting During the January 2015 American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in Seattle, WA, an STScI outreach astronomer contributed to the NASA exhibit booth with presentations and videos on the NASA HyperWall. Three “25 Years of Hubble” presentations were provided, showcasing high-resolution images from across the history of Hubble’s discoveries. About two dozen Hubble and Webb astronomy visualizations were provided as well. 2/23/15Bonnie Eisenhamer/STScI

5. STEM Career Day at AAS 225 th Meeting On January 6, STScI staff participated in the STEM Career Day events during the 225th American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in Seattle, WA. Approximately 100 students from the Seattle area, along with their chaperones, attended the meeting for a day and were exposed to the science and business of a career in astronomy. STScI outreach astronomers presented "Hubble in the WorldWide Telescope" to the students during a round-robin session in the AAS exhibition hall. The presentation showcased WorldWide Telescope and how to explore Hubble’s highest resolution images and professionally produced tours within the free sky exploration software. 2/23/15Bonnie Eisenhamer/STScI