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Eclipse Ambassadors off the Path: Reaching Underrepresented Audiences
The NASA Science Activation Program’s “Eclipse Ambassadors Off the Path” project is a nationwide initiative that set out in September 2022 to prepare 500 communities on and off the central paths of the back-to-back solar eclipses in 2023 and 2024 to enjoy the science and wonder of this natural phenomenon.
Led by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, this team partners with libraries, community centers, and more to match college undergraduate students and eclipse enthusiasts of all ages with amateur astronomers in order to train them to become Eclipse Ambassadors, who share the excitement of NASA solar science with their communities, in particular, traditionally underserved audiences. Eclipse Ambassadors represent a broad range of backgrounds from across 45 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam, with native speakers of more than 40 languages. In addition to the formal training they receive, they participate in informal Social Hours to prepare them for engaging diverse audiences and receive an Eclipse Toolkit containing teaching materials and solar viewers to share with groups of 200 people – half of which must come from underrepresented communities.
As of February 28, 2024, 705 Eclipse Ambassadors have hosted 309 events across the US and its territories, reaching over 51,498 people with eclipse science, which is just over halfway to the project team’s goal to reach 100,000 participants with this program.
The Eclipse Ambassadors Off the Path project is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NSS22M0007 and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. To learn more, visit: www.eclipseambassadors.org.
