YOU CAN HELP!

Docents are volunteers who explain the night sky and answer general astronomy questions from our visitors. If you enjoy learning about astronomy and sharing what you know with others, you can become a docent at Robert Ferguson Observatory.

Volunteers help us bring the sky to our visitors in ways that don't require them to know any astronomy. We have many volunteer jobs that you can do with only a little training. Some involve support positions at public viewing session, others are administrative support positions that are essential to our operations.

Technical Volunteers bring their special skills to help us serve our visitors better. We can use help with computers, web programming, machining, telescope maintenance and other tasks that require expertise. We don't train you in these skills, but you can learn a lot by helping us.

All volunteers come to a one day orientation program where you will learn more about Sugarloaf Ridge State Park and how the VMOA runs the Robert Ferguson Observatory. That orientation is then followed up with frequent training sessions that are aimed at the needs of each volunteer. We teach general astronomy, how to maintain and run the telescopes, how to work with the public, how to do digital imaging with CCD cameras, how to register people for private groups over the Internet and lots more.

As a benefit of volunteering you can sign up for any of our classes for no fee, and we open the observatory to docents four nights every year. The best benefit, though, is the fun of sharing astronomy and the night sky with our visitors.

For more information, contact Colleen Ferguson. We're looking forward to seeing you out here!