Dear Members of the Snowshoe Foundation Scholarship Committee

NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY P.O. Box 2, Route 28/92 Green Bank, WV 24944 304.456.2209 Fax 304.456.2229 www.nrao.edu

Dear Members of the Snowshoe Foundation Scholarship Committee:

It is my pleasure to heartily recommend Natasha McMann for a scholarship from the Snowshoe foundation. I can’t think of a more deserving young woman.

In my capacity as the NRAO’s Education Officer, I have had the opportunity to supervise Ms. McMann in her duties as NRAO tour guide over the past two years. As a tour guide, and our primary docent, Natasha not only represents the Observatory to the public by giving enlightening and entertaining tours, but also develops activities that engage the general public and children in doing science. She has excellent attributes that will serve her well as a physics major at WVU, and deserving of your scholarship:

At the Observatory’s science center we all know that we can expect the unexpected, but Ms. McMann possesses an unflagging positive (and professional) attitude that I have come to rely on. Whether it be handling an disgruntled tourist, a tour bus that won’t start or an unscheduled visit from 200 school children, I can count on Natasha to solve the problem, cheerfully.

Ms McMann is an excellent communicator. She consistently receives unsolicited praise from the public, as well as teachers and students who take her public tours. In addition, she creates write-ups of educational activities, and has been in charge of the bookings and written communication with group tour operators.

Ms. McMann does more than is required without being asked. Here are a couple of examples. Over her two seasons with NRAO tour program, she has developed several new educational activities for the public- She researches a topic, creates the activity and then implements it with the public-- this is outside the scope of normal tour guide duties. It was her idea to show “Making of the 140” as part of the “How We Work” Smithsonian Exhibit in Marlinton. She took the lead in creating the publicity for this event and in hosting the event. She reads popular works on radio astronomy when she has free time to learn more. In short-- she has a great work ethic.

Through her work at NRAO Ms. McMann has developed a real interest in astronomy, and I am so proud that she has made the decision to go back to school to pursue higher education in astronomy. Please assist her on this journey by granting this scholarship. She will use her new knowledge to great effect in the community at the NRAO with the general public.

I highly recommend her for the Snowshoe Foundation Scholarship.

Sincerely,

Sue Ann Heatherly Senior Education Officer, NRAO

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.