Teaching People to Dream

Dave Weinrich 58, Male Moorhead, Minnesota United States: Share; Share on Twitter; Share on Facebook

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Welcome! Keep Looking Up!

Check out my profile for an update on the Ghana Science Project. Apr 30

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Dave Weinrich is now friends with Isabel Bou Bayona and Alexander Zaragoza

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Profile Information

Employment Status (can pick more than one):

Work in a planetarium, Astronomy educator

If you work(ed) in a planetarium, which one?

Minnesota State University Moorhead

Are you a member of an astronomy club? If so, which one(s)

Fargo/Moorhead Astronomy Club

Just for fun, what are some words that describe you (can pick more than one)?

Astronomy lover, sidewalk astronomer, avid reader, optimist

About Me:

IPS President-Elect; astronomy education and education in developing countries are my two passions. I fell in love with the stars in my early teens and have never stopped looking up. I served for four years in the Peace Corps- two in Liberia and two in Ghana. I recently spent a six-month sabbatical in Sri Lanka working on astronomical outreach.
The stars belong to all people and can be a powerful force for uniting the diverse cultures of this planet. Yet most of the world's population doesn't have access to telescopes, planetariums and other educational tools that will help them learn about the universe. I want to help give more people access to the universe.
I am helping Dr. Jacob Ashong to establish the first public planetarium in the West African nation of Ghana. The initial installation was finished in June 2008. The Ghana Planetarium was inaugurated on January 22, 2009. My blog details the occasion and I have posted some pictures and a video interview on the Planetarium Network Home page.
The Ghana Science Project Home page is
http://www.ghanascienceproject.net/index.html

April 30, 2010
Check out this blog http://ghanaplanetariumontour.blogspot.com/ for more fruit borne of the Ghana Science Project and the planetarium.Two volunteers from the UK, one of which worked with Jacob shortly after the planetarium was first installed, are taking a mobile dome around Ghana. With the help of ten Ghanaian volunteers they are showing videos, performing hands-on demonstrations and giving three donated telescopes to academic institutions. Exciting stuff!

Website:

http://www.mnstate.edu/regsci/

Ghana Science Project Planetarium, Accra, Ghana

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"Earthrise"

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Ghana Science Proj. Planetarium

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Dave Weinrich's Blog

Successful opening of Ghana Planetarium

We had a successful opening of the first public planetarium in West Africa, and the first digital planetarium in sub-Saharan Africa, perhaps the whole continent. Many of the guests had never been in a planetarium in their lives and they were just blown away by what the Mediaglobe could do. Then when we did a domecast with Uniview, they almost went supernova!

It was quite a festive day and the planetarium building and surrounding area were festooned with brightly colored cloth and balloons. Astr… Continue

Posted on January 24, 2009 at 7:08am —

Grand Opening of Ghana Planetarium

Akwaba,

That means "welcome" in Ghana. Arrived here last night after a 24 hour flight from Minnesota. What a contrast in temperatures, going from a cold Midwest winter to a tropical climate. Please forgive any typing errors as I am sure they are due to jet lag.

I am here for the grand opening of the Ghana Planetarium on Jan. 22nd. There have been many improvements since I was here last summer and I am looking forward to the event. I will be training Dr. Ashong and his staff to use a Starlab pr… Continue

Posted on January 17, 2009 at 6:25am — 2 Comments

Link to article on historical Sri Lankan Astronomer

Surfing the internet, I came across an interesting article about a little known astronomer who observed in Sri Lanka over 100 years ago. http://www.sundaytimes.lk/081221/Plus/sundaytimesplus_15.html

He lived in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. In 2003 I had the opportunity to visit there with the retired director of the Colombo Planetarium, Mr. T.C. Samaranayaka (Sam). I had read about PB Molesworth and after a considerable search, we found his grave. In the late 1800's he had a 12 1/2 inch reflector an… Continue

Posted on December 23, 2008 at 10:02am —

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At 5:37am on June 25, 2010, Isabel Bou Bayona said…: Hello, Dave, great to meet you too! Check out our Alexandrian blog, about the tour of Alexandria yesterday, at http://blog.antares.es/ips_alexandria_day_2/. Hope you like our record of your show at the Roman amphitheater! xD

At 9:59am on May 6, 2010, Stephen Berr said…: Sorry to hear that about Darrell. He was an interesting friend. There was a bit of friction between him and Phil Sadler, and when I went to work for LTI I think he regarded that as an act of disloyalty, and he cut off contact with me.

Steve

At 9:43pm on May 5, 2010, Stephen Berr said…: Dave:
Yes indeed, I was involved with Project Spica with Darrell Hoff. I wonder how he is doing. Jonathan (my son) is a blogger with a contract with AOL who does a lot of writing on toics in business. He has a special place in his heart for our planetarium though because he went to that school district, and saw his old man involved with it every day. I retired in 1993 and repped for Starlab in the Mid Atlantic region until 2006. I hope our planetarium gets a lease on life. I'll try to keep you in the loop.
Steve

At 9:30pm on April 4, 2010, Jeongwon Lee said…: Dear Mr. Dave,

I am glad to be your friend and working at NARO space science museum.
And I am now preparing planetarium at this museum so I need many advise regarding this work. Thank you

At 4:39am on April 2, 2010, Mark Rigby said…: Hi Dave,

A fair while since I've used this site with everything going on over the past 18+ months - some of which you are aware of through other social media. Just confirming that I'm looking forward to catching up in Alexandria.

Cheers,
Mark

At 10:08am on June 23, 2009, Rod_Kennedy said…: Dave, We'd love to have you visit. It was warm here yesterday, only about 85 degrees with only 22% humidity, dry air never felt so good!

All the Best
Rod

At 3:05pm on April 19, 2009, Carrie Zaitz said…: Hi Dave- thanks for the thoughts on the shooting- it's shaken a lot of people up. I do teach at HFCC and do planetarium shows there as well, but my day job is teaching at a high discipline academy for girls. Crestwood (my former job) never reopened the planetarium to the public, but I do hope that the teachers there do use it once in awhile. But I don't really know.

Looks like good things are happening for you- Africa! And IPS! Congratulations! And good wishes.

Carrie

At 8:32am on April 16, 2009, Jon U. Bell said…: Hi Dave,

If you can stand my snoring, I'd be happy to room with you at the SEPA conference!

Jon

At 2:10am on January 26, 2009, Charan Singh said…: Hello Sir,
Nice to here u.
Do get in touch whenever u visit again. Anyway we will be in touch through this network.
Regards
Charansingh

At 4:40am on January 25, 2009, Mark Rigby said…: Dave - wish I'd been there! Terrific project and congratulations to all those involved in bringing a dream alive in Ghana. The atmosphere would have been wonderful. Putting stars in their eyes.

Mark Rigby
Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium
Australia