DarkSky International Committee

DarkSky’s goal to protect and conserve the night sky extends around the world. The International Committee represents the views of dark sky advocates around the globe and reports directly to the Board on how DarkSky can best support the needs of the community of dark sky champions.

Kellie Pendoley

Co-chair
Australia

Kellie Pendoley is a biologist and environmental scientist based in Perth, Western Australia. She has spent more than 30 years studying and advising on light pollution, its biological impacts, and methods for measuring and monitoring artificial light at night, both on a landscape scale and from a biological perspective.

Her most recent achievement was as co-author of the Australian National Light Pollution Guidelines for Wildlife, released in 2020.

She has served on the DarkSky Board of Directors since 2016, three of those as vice president, and currently serves as co-chair of the International Committee.

Alejandro Sanchez

Co-chair
Spain

Alejandro has been involved in light pollution issues since the mid-1990s and has contributed to over 100 articles, many related to light pollution.

He obtained his Ph.D. from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), with his thesis titled “Spatial, temporal and spectral variation of light pollution and its sources: Methodology and results.” He is currently doing his post-doctorate at the University of Exeter. He works as a light pollution advisor at the recently created Night Sky Quality Office of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía-CSIC. He is an active member of several organizations and research networks related to astronomy and light pollution in Europe, such as Cel Fosc (Spanish Association Against Light Pollution) and the Spanish Astronomy Society (SEA), the Loss of the Night Network (LoNNe), and STARS4ALL.

He is the leader of Cities at Night, a citizen-supported project coordinated with NASA and other space agencies that uses night images from the International Space Station to raise awareness of light pollution. In 2014, Alejandro received a DarkSky Defender Award for his leading role in Cities at Night.

Alejandro ha estado involucrado en temas de contaminación lumínica desde mediados de la década de 1990 y ha contribuido a más de 100 artículos, muchos relacionados con la contaminación lumínica. Es el líder de Cities at Night, un proyecto apoyado por ciudadanos coordinado con la NASA y otras agencias espaciales que utilizan imágenes nocturnas de la ISS para crear conciencia sobre la contaminación lumínica. Obtuvo su Ph.D. de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), con la tesis titulada “Variación espacial, temporal y espectral de la contaminación lumínica y sus fuentes: metodología y resultados”. Actualmente está haciendo su posdoctorado en Universidad de Exeter y se desempeña como asesor de contaminación lumínica en la recién creada Oficina de Calidad del Cielo Nocturno de Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía-CSIC. Es miembro activo de varias organizaciones y redes de investigación relacionadas con la astronomía y la contaminación lumínica en Europa, como Cel Fosc (Asociación española contra la contaminación lumínica) y Sociedad Española de Astronomía (SEA), Loss of the Night Network (LoNNe) y STARS4ALL. En 2014, Alejandro recibió un premio IDA Dark Sky Defender por su papel de liderazgo en Cities at Night.

Marnie Ogg

Secretary
Australia

With a 30-year history in all aspects of tourism, Marnie returned from an astrotourism event she was hosting in Europe and truly realized the Australian dark night sky was a natural asset to be preserved.

Seeing the designation of Australia’s first Dark Sky Place, managing Sydney Observatory, and founding the Australian Dark Sky Alliance have led to her receiving two DarkSky Defender Awards for her personal and board efforts and has strengthened her commitment to creating inspirational places and experiences for human connection in the world, both day and night.

Mohamed F. Aboushelib

Assistant researcher, National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics
Egypt

Mohamed holds a master’s degree in astrophysics. Through his practical work at some sites, he was able to gain knowledge of the night sky brightness and its different components.

Mohamed became interested in studying light pollution since it has a serious impact on sky brightness and observations. His Ph.D. study relied on studying the night sky brightness and the effect of light pollution on astronomical observations.

Rémi Boucher

Canada

The scientific coordinator for the Mont-Megantic International Dark Sky Reserve (MMIDSR), Rémi Boucher, has been passionate about the starry sky and the night experience for many years. With a degree in molecular biology, his more than 15 years working for the Mont-Mégantic National Park allowed him to acquire great expertise in light pollution and the reduction of its negative effects.

In addition to giving numerous lectures and training on the subject, he continues to educate the public by visiting the MMIDSR and received the DarkSky Defender Award in 2015.

Rémi Boucher was part of the committee designing the national standard against light pollution in the Province of Quebec by the Bureau de Normalisation du Québec, and he is currently leading the efforts in the monitoring of light pollution inside the Dark Sky Reserve and reducing light pollution in Québec’s national parks network.

Silva Maria Carneiro De Campos

Brazil

Silva Maria Carneiro de Campos, born in São Paulo, Brazil, where she lives, has been working in the LED lighting field since 2008. She works as an architect, is expert in LED lighting, has a postgraduation in lighting and interior design, and has a master’s degree in architecture and lighting. She works with business consultants on strategic intelligence, building relationships and offering technical assistance to architects and lighting specifiers in lighting industries.

She works as a professor of graduate courses in lighting and lighting projects of various segments. Certified in Accessibility by SMPD-SP, she is a collaborator at the CB-40 accessibility committee, in the ABNT 9050/15 revision, and at the ABNT’s CB-03 COBEI committee. She has participated in the ABNT 5101 (Public Lighting) and 5413 (Lighting in work environments, current ABNT ISO/CIE 8995-1) standards revision. She is currently a collaborator in lighting projects groups of ABNT/CEE-134 – Commission of an Especial Study of Construction Information’s Modelling (BIM) – Work Group about BIM Components.

Silvia Maria Carneiro de Campos, paulistana, representa a DARK SKY ASSOCIATION no Brasil, suas pesquisas sobre iluminação denunciam os impactos ambientais que a luz artificial provoca ao ser humano e na Natureza. Atua no mercado de iluminação LED desde 2008, arquiteta urbanista especialista em iluminação LED, com Pós Graduação em Iluminação e Design de Interiores e Master em Arquitetura & Iluminação.  Lighting Designer e educadora, tem diversas publicações em diferentes veículos.  Executa projetos luminotécnicos para diversos segmentos.  Atua como professora de iluminação em cursos de Pós Graduação em diversas instituições, entre elas FAAP e Instituto Europeo di Design – IED Certificada em Acessibilidade pela SMPD-SP é colaboradora no CB-40 comitê de acessibilidade na revisão da ABNT 9050/15 e do comitê CB-03 COBEI da ABNT, participando da revisão das normas ABNT 5101 (Iluminação Pública) e 5413 (Iluminação de ambientes de trabalho, atual ABNT ISO/CIE 8995-1). Atualmente também é colaboradora do grupo de projetos luminotécnicos do ABNT/CEE-134 – Comissão de Estudo Especial Modelagem da Informação da Construção (BIM) – Grupo de Trabalho sobre Componentes BIM.

Georgia MacMillan

Ireland

Georgia has been studying light pollution since 2013. Her dissertation on preserving the night skies and the potential for a dark sky site in county Mayo led her to found the Friends of Mayo Dark Skies community group and submit an application for Wild Nephin Ballycroy National Park to become an International Dark Sky Park.

She has been an active campaigner for dark skies since, leading her to organize the hosting of the 14th European Symposium for the Protection of the Night Sky in 2019. In 2020, she was appointed Mayo Dark Sky Park Development officer, and she continues to promote awareness of dark skies in sustainability throughout Ireland. She has worked on dark sky educational programs for schools and community outreach and astrotourism initiatives and events.

Her most recent project is a collaboration with lighting designers and community groups to create a template for best practice lighting and Ireland’s first dark sky-friendly town.  

Georgia is a key member of the Dark Sky Ireland team to promote dark skies as a national campaign for Ireland, collaborating with government departments and state agencies in an effort to implement a national policy for dark sky preservation. In 2019 she received a DarkSky Defender Award in recognition of her work.

Axiou Lin

Taiwan

Axiou Lin is an environmental activist, urban planner, columnist, and former municipal officer in Taipei. Taiwan.

He also initiated some nonprofit projects abroad in Asian countries (Indonesia, Mongolia, and mainland China). He has been the leader of the DarkSky chapter in Taiwan (TDA) since 2020 and focuses on regulating light pollution at both the local and national levels.

林正修 台灣暗空協會會長,海西諮詢負責人,專欄作者

Nobuaki Ochi

Japan

Nobuaki Ochi is an associate professor at Toyo University and the leader of the DarkSky Tokyo chapter. After obtaining a doctorate on the subject of cosmic ray physics, he is now studying light pollution from the viewpoint of environmental education.

His recent contributions include a column “light pollution and its effects on natural environment” in a Japanese book Chronological Environmental Tables 2019–2020 and a column “Light Pollution in Japan” in the book The End of Night (Japanese Edition) by Paul Bogard.

越智 信彰

東洋大学経営学部准教授。博士（理学）。2013年、IDA東京支部を設立、代表を務める。

Ricardo J. Tohmé

Argentina

Ricardo is a science communicator and amateur astronomer from Argentina. Since 2016, he has been the founder and executive director of Fundación Cielo Sustentable; the first nonprofit NGO established to raise awareness of light pollution and the need to protect the dark skies in Latin America.

With more than 20 years of experience in astronomy outreach, he is currently leading multiple efforts to characterize, monitor, and mitigate the impact of light pollution in Argentina.

Comunicador científico y astrónomo aficionado nacido en Argentina. Desde 2016, Ricardo es el fundador y director ejecutivo de la Fundación Cielo Sustentable, la primera ONG sin fines de lucro establecida para concientizar sobre la contaminación lumínica y la necesidad de proteger los cielos oscuros en Latinoamérica. Con más de 20 años de experiencia en la divulgación de la astronomía, actualmente lleva adelante múltiples iniciativas para caracterizar, monitorear y mitigar el impacto de la contaminación lumínica en Argentina.

Samyukta Manikumar

Kenya

Samyukta has always been interested in space and the different ways there are to make sense of it. She has a degree in applied mathematics from the University of Cape Town. In Kenya, she has worked in astronomy and science outreach and participated in the implementation of Sayari, an astrotourism pilot project in Kenyan game reserves.

Growing up in Kenya, nature and conservation have been a consistent influence on Samyukta’s outlook and instilled the commitment to live with sensitivity and respect for the planet and its inhabitants. This informs her interest in dark sky conservation for ecological and heritage preservation.

She also occasionally writes for the online magazine Space in Africa and is always interested in pursuing side projects, big and small, that look at the night sky through interesting and alternative perspectives.

WASIFU (Translation by Eric Meli)
Samyukta daima amekuwa akipenda mabingu, na njia tofauti zilizopo za kuyaelewa. Ana shahada ya Hisabati Tumikivu kutoka Chuo Kikuu cha Cape Town. Nchini Kenya amefanya kazi katika unajimu na sayansi fikifu, na kushiriki katika utekelezaji wa Sayari, ambayo ni mradi wa majaribio ya utalii wa ki-unajimu katika mbuga za wanyama za Kenya. Akikua nchini Kenya, umbile na uhifadhi wa rasilimali za dunia umekuwa ushawishi thabiti kwa mtazamo wa Samyukta, na umepelekea kujitolea kwake kuishi kwa kujali na kuheshimu sayari yetu na wenyeji wake. Hii imearifu masilahi yake katika uhifadhi wa anga nyeusi kwa minajili ya kuhifadhi mazingira na urithi. Yeye pia mara kwa mara anaandika kwa jarida la mtandaoni liitwalo Space In Africa, na huwa na nia ya kufuata na kuanzisha miradi ya kando, mikubwa na midogo, zinazozingatia anga la usiku kupitia mitazamo ya kuvutia na mbadala.

Mr. Exodus Chun-Long Sit

Hong Kong, China

Exodus CL Sit is an international transmedia astronomer, astro-musician, astrophotographer, and columnist from Hong Kong, China. He is the national astronomy education coordinator (chair of HK) of the International Astronomical Union and the national point of contact at the Space Generation Advisory Council, who actively promotes dark sky protection and popular science through international delegation.

Additionally, he is also the national coordinator of Astronomers Without Borders, a TEDx Educational Motivational Speaker, and a member of the Educational Committee of Aurora Association. Exodus also started his curiosity journey on multiple disciplines, such as sustainability, dark sky protection, space exploration, astronomy innovation, astropreneurship, and STEAM Education (Science and Art Integration), since he was the chairperson of the HKUST Astronomy Club. 

Now the external vice president of Starrix, Exodus has also been invited as the Hong Kong Space Museum and Hong Kong Science Museum guest speaker to organize public lectures, outreach programs, and stargazing carnivals. For inspiration of astro-music, Exodus had traveled to more than 40 countries (5 continents) to explore dark skies and cultural heritages. As the founder of the “1-minute Astronomy” popular science channel, he acts as “ASTROMAN” to share his experiences on stargazing etiquette and night-sky photography with audiences through multi-media. 

薛俊朗（Exodus CL Sit）

薛俊朗是一名國際跨媒體天文教育者、香港首位天文音樂創作人、星野攝影師及科普專欄作家。現獲委任於國際暗天協會「董事會諮詢委員會」，擔任國際委員（亞洲及大洋洲區），現時亦是國際天文聯會（IAU）的香港天文教育組主席，以及航天新一代諮詢理事會（SGAC）的國家聯絡點，致力於推廣夜空保護和天文科普。同時，薛俊朗也是無國界天文學家（AWB）的香港代表、TEDx 教育激勵演講者，並於國際極光協會（香港及中國分部）擔任教育部理事，曾擔任科大天文學會會長的他，希望通過跨領域的探索，所涉獵的範疇包括可持續發展、夜空保護、太空探索、科普創新、天文創業精神和STEAM教育（結合科學與藝術的跨學科發展）。

現時擔任星匯點外務副會長的薛俊朗，定期參與香港的科普推廣工作，包括於香港太空館和香港科學館舉辦公開講座、外展觀測活動、星空嘉年華。為了尋找天文音樂的創作靈感，「音樂天文仁」曾經踏足五大洲超過40個國家，希望體驗暗空下的星空和保護。更開創「天文一分鐘」科普頻道，飾演「天文仁」與大眾分享觀星禮儀和攝星心得。

Paulina Villalobos

Chile

Paulina is from the Atacama Desert, the driest, brightest and starriest place on Earth. The natural perfect light and darkness guide her interest to study, work and promote lighting design with nature as a reference quality for day and night. In 2005 she founded DIAV, an architectural lighting design practice based in Santiago, Chile, and is developing Conceptual Design for Singapore.

Her works in lighting design have been awarded in Europe, Asia, and America. Paulina received the Dora Riedel Award for innovation, awarded for the first time by the Chilean Architects Association in 2018.

In 2012 Paulina founded Noche Zero, an initiative to change the paradigm for urban lighting planning, promoting the importance of lighting design and the incorporation of ecology, human health, and light pollution control. Noche Zero has received the DarkSky Defender Award in 2012 and was a nominee for the Award at Large in PLDC Copenhagen. The dissemination has reached more than 20 countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Recognized as an enthusiastic speaker, she is currently a lighting design professor for post-graduate programs at the University of Chile, and has been invited for conferences, classes, and seminars in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, China, USA, UK, and Singapore.

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Read about the 2021 International Committee here.