Stacy Palen

Stacy Palen received her bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in 1993 and her PhD from the University of Iowa in 1998. Upon graduation she spent four years as a post-doc/lecturer at the University of Washington, where she taught introductory astronomy 20 times in four years. This experience enabled her to really focus on students' conceptual difficulties with the course material, and experiment with ways to address them. Her astronomical research has focused on multi-wavelength studies of dying sun-like stars. She has also conducted research in the teaching and learning of astronomy, and served on multiple national committees that promote astronomy through education and public outreach. Currently, she is an Associate Professor at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. In addition to the usual professorial duties, she also runs the Ott Planetarium, an astronomy outreach center that produces planetarium content for all ages. She lives on a small farm with her husband, two dogs, two dairy goats, four horses, and an ever-changing number of chickens.