Press Release: The Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop for Writers Announces Sponsorship by Uwingu
10 June 2013 (Laramie, Wyoming)—For Immediate Release
The Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop for Writers (at the University of Wyoming is pleased to announce today that it has received a grant from Uwingu (www.uwingu.com) that will help offset costs to participants in 2013.
Uwingu (which means “sky” in Swahili, and is pronounced “oo-wing-oo”) is and organization led by a team of leading astronomers, planetary scientists, former space program executives, and educators. They employ novel techniques, such as exoplanet naming and adoption, to raise funds for qualified activities.
“Uwingu’s goals are to fund space research and education projects, and to help the public better connect to the sky and space,” said Uwingu CEO, Dr. Alan Stern. “This new grant fulfills all those objectives, and we’re excited to provide our support.”
Established in 2007, the annual one-week Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop has taught the basics of astronomy and the communication of scientific concepts to approximately 100 writers, editors, video game makers, reporters, directors, and others with an audience. The goal of the workshop is to educate creators who reach the public and empower them to include more astronomy in their work and to get it right. Astronomy in popular media has the power to educate as well as inspire.
Launch Pad founder Dr. Michael Brotherton added “We are very grateful to Uwingu for their assistance. With the reduction of Education and Public Outreach funding, this year we were unable to obtain funding from NASA or the National Science Foundation as we have in the past. Uwingu’s timely assistance enabled us to offset some of the expenses to our students and help make this year’s workshop a reality”.
This year’s Launch Pad workshop will be held at the University of Wyoming from July 14-21, 2013. Fifteen professional writers will attend. The workshop’s webpage is www.launchpadworkshop.org.
For more information, contact Dr. Mike Brotherton at mbrother@uwyo.edu, or at 307-399-9524.