NSF Funds LIGO Public Education All the World's a Stage
1- Ll. en 1- 1- Ll. en en The campus community biweekly June 17, 2004, vol. 4, no. 12 NSF funds All the world's a stage ... LIGO public education The National Science Foundation has Noted Caltech announced a $5 million, five-year coop geologist dies erative agreement with Caltech and its partners in educational outreach to estab lish an Educational Outreach Center as an Robert Phillip Sharp, a leading authority on integral part of the NSF-funded Laser the surfaces of Earth and Mars, the long Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Obser time head of Caltech's geological sciences vatory (LIGO) in Livingston, Louisiana. division, and an alum, died May 25 at his The center will support programs home in Santa Barbara. He was 92. that communicate LIGO-related science Though Sharp was a renowned geolo concepts to the public, strengthen re gist in his own right, his most significant gional science teaching, and reach a role was arguably his modernization of broad audience of students in Louisiana Caltech's earth-science programs during and beyond. a time of unparalleled progress in human The project brings together research kind's knowledge of its own planet and of scientists from the LIGO Livingston Ob other worlds. Known for hiring top people, servatory, Caltech, and MIT as well as he had a strong interest in creating new educators from Southern University in interdisciplinary approaches to take advan Baton Rouge, the Louisiana Systemic tage of-the dawning age of manned and Initiatives, and the Exploratorium of San unmanned planetary exploration. Francisco. These partners provide exper Particularly noteworthy were Sharp's tise specific to LIGO science, experience support of planetary science as a vehicle in exhibit development, connections to for extending geological research to teacher development, and access to a other planets, and his contributions to statewide community of public schools.
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