Building dark sky connections with Michelle Wooten

DarkSky Delegate Dr. Michelle Wooten is an astronomy educator and president of the Starry Skies South DarkSky chapter. In this interview with Nightscape editor Megan Eaves, she shares her work in protecting the night sky in the southeastern United States and how to build partnerships and communities in your local area.

You’ve built communities and partnerships with a variety of groups, from students to local environmental groups. How did you begin making those connections?

I’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from the DarkSky advocacy community, so I offer a lot of credit to others’ sharing about their practices.

DarkSky’s events and resources have been very useful. For example, at an Advocate Action Meeting, I learned how Houston collaborated with their local Audubon chapter, which inspired me to join Alabama Audubon’s birding hikes. That’s how I connected with Dr Lianne Koczur, leader of Project Safe Flight Alabama, where I began volunteering and eventually joined the Board of Directors. Investing in others’ efforts opens doors for collaboration on shared values and goals.

I also incorporated lessons from the University of Utah’s Dark Sky Studies minor into my own courses. For example, engineering students helped design shields for glaring campus lights and used drones to measure sky quality above luminaires.

Bettymaya Foott’s introductory video gave me the confidence to present publicly. I contacted a state park about hosting a talk during International Dark Sky Week, which led to collaborating on night hikes, campfires and s’mores, and constellation art programs — all complementing dark sky education.

My personal goal is to get more people outside at night to experience natural darkness safely. I organize night hikes for large groups of my astronomy students to learn the beauty and importance of unlit environments. I also created a service-learning course, “Protecting Starry Skies in Birmingham and Beyond,” to involve students in local advocacy. Networking at environmental and astronomy conferences also helps spread these ideas to other educators.

I’ve learned so much from the DarkSky community and credit the practices they’ve shared for much of my success.

What advice would you give to those hesitant to approach neighbors or strangers about light pollution?

Start by consulting your local DarkSky chapter, which understands your community’s norms and can suggest effective outreach methods. For example, my chapter, Starry Skies South, advised me to write a letter to my neighbor about reducing glare and trespass from their lights rather than approaching them in person. In the letter, I offered to identify a suitable shield for their lighting. Within days, the light was turned off, and it has stayed off for over a year. My chapter also recommended a show of gratitude, so I sent the neighbor a box of pears.

How can advocates link dark skies with other conservation and climate initiatives to foster collaboration?

Start by attending events hosted by other local groups, such as birding events, outdoor group hikes, or star parties with astronomy clubs. Share your passion for dark skies, offer to present at their meetings, and invite attendees to participate in activities like Globe at Night to give them a simple way to get involved. 

If you have the means, donate to these organizations and ask if they will highlight dark sky issues through their platforms, like social media or podcasts. Donations are meaningful and create a lot of goodwill. Offering to be a resource often strengthens these partnerships, too.

Finally, educators can benefit from attending meetings of local environmental or conservation organizations, such as the National Association of Environmental Educators (NAEE). These gatherings are invaluable for networking with park naturalists, climate educators, and university professors, enabling collaborations that integrate dark sky themes into broader conservation work. You will meet educators at all levels with shared interests and a wealth of knowledge. Basically, everyone I know doing conservation education in Alabama attends the state NAEE meetings. 

If someone wanted to build a dark sky network in a new area, where should they start? 

I would start by drafting an email to DarkSky International members in that area and asking DarkSky to distribute it on your behalf. Include a survey to learn about members’ availability, interests, and contact information. Schedule a meeting, either in person or virtually using a platform like Zoom. Even if only one other person joins, you have just begun building a network.

Anything else you would like to share about building communities, links, and partnerships for the dark sky cause?

Yes, have confidence that your goodwill is meaningful to others. Most people want to help but need guidance, leadership, or inspiration. Be patient with those unfamiliar with our cause; a gentle, gracious approach creates understanding and collaboration.

What are you currently working on with Starry Skies South? Any new initiatives or exciting partnerships to share?

One current goal is to jointly advocate for window-safe stickers and lights-out practices at my university. Building positive relationships with the Facilities Department and Sustainability Office has been key to this.

Starry Skies South members are spread out geographically, so we often share ideas during meetings and learn from each other’s successes. Our members have started petitions, introduced proclamations to legislators, written letters, created planetarium shows, served on boards or associations that make decisions about infrastructure, given public talks, worked at events, and led night hikes. These seemingly small actions together add up to meaningful change.

Personally, I am excited that my university recently connected me to local lighting vendors and designers through the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES). They seem interested in including me in restarting an Alabama IES chapter, which would be an incredible opportunity to advocate for DarkSky Approved lighting on a broader scale.

Originally published in Nightscape Magazine, ‘Building dark sky connections with Michelle Wooten’, written by Megan Eaves, Editor of Nightscape Magazine.