Restoring Darkness

Ron installs and commissions lighting controls. He is an integrator who knows his stuff. In this Restoring Darkness episode, he and Michael make the case for controls in exterior lighting systems and wonder why the lighting industry largely ignores this application. Ron Kuszmar oversees Port’s Architectural and Theatrical Lighting Design & Installation departments, as well as their Lighting Co...

Terry brings his vast amount of knowledge and experience to the question of industry alignment in the quest to reduce light pollution. Michael talks with Terry about the importance of educating everyone, from manufacturers and distributors right down to municipalities, which are some of the worst offenders. Let’s get on board with the 6 strategies for darkness restoration and preservation! Terry i...

Where does the resistance to the adoption of darkness friendly lighting come from?  Michael poses this question to Peter Brown. Michael and Peter discuss how and if it’s even possible to get the industry on board. With over thirty years in the lighting industry, Mr. Brown has sales and marketing experience in distribution, manufacturing, auditing, design and installation; both in the C&I and p...

Scientific coordinator for the Mont-Megantic International Dark Sky Reserve, Rémi Boucher has been passionate about the starry sky and the night experience for many years. Do people believe that light pollution is actually pollution or a metaphor?  Michael and Rémi dive into this question and tackle the complexities of maneuvering through municipal and state/provincial governments,  environmentali...

Abdul Dremali is an Palestinian/Egyptian artist with a passion for the night sky. Currently based in Reno, Nevada, he travels the world in search of dark skies for his astrophotography. Abdul advocates some sensible solutions for restoring darkness. We should all follow his example of his relationship with the moon and the stars. And check out his photos at what is perhaps the suavest URL ever - a...

Hannah Moon is a PhD Candidate at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa in Dr. Megan Porter’s vision lab.  Her work focuses on understanding the physiological and molecular aspects of light perception in birds and has won multiple awards at scientific conferences.  In other words, she’s trying to understand what birds are seeing. As you’ll hear, it goes beyond just the molecular structure of the bird...

Dr. Meredith Kernbach is a postdoctoral scholar at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg in the lab of Dr. Mya Breitbart. For her doctoral dissertation, she studied how light pollution may affect zoonotic disease dynamics, specifically West Nile virus in House sparrows. Dr. Kernbach has found that even low light levels have allowed sparrows to hold the disease longer which means more mos...

Dr. Andreas Jechow is an interdisciplinary physicist with a broad expertise in photonics, the science of light. Earlier in his career Andreas worked in laser physics and quantum optics, for example on imaging the "shadow of a single atom" with lasers. In 2015, Andreas transitioned to environmental sciences where he applies his knowledge of light in research on light pollution.  Some of the fascina...

  Dr. Sam Illingworth is an Associate Professor at Edinburgh Napier University, UK. He is a leading expert in using poetry to develop a dialogue between scientists and non-scientists. Sam write’s books, tweets, blogs, composes poetry, podcasts, creates games and still finds time for running.  If you want to engage your left AND right brain, give this episode a listen. 

Gail Walker is the founder of Nantucket Lights, an all-volunteer citizen advocacy group recently formed to combat the growing light pollution on Nantucket, the island off the coast of Massachusetts that is a popular summer destination for many. A former litigator for the U.S. Department of Justice, she began working on light pollution issues there after retiring a few years ago. Gail discusses wit...

Hilding Neilson is an interdisciplinary scientist currently working with the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto and is Mi’kmaw from the Qalipu First Nation band. Hilding is working at the intersection of science, astronomy and Indigenous knowledge. He tells us some fascinating Indigenous stories about the constellations, and how many more have bee...

Dr. Tyler Nordgren is an artist, author, astronomer, and night sky ambassador. He holds a Ph. D. in Astronomy from Cornell University where he did work on dark matter as well as a B.A. in Physics from Reed College. In this episode, we discuss the role of his artwork in public education about the night skies, how inhabiting Mars is a longshot with questionable benefits, and you won't want to miss T...

Megan Porter PhD is an Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.  Her research program is focused on understanding the evolution of animal eye diversity, particularly from a molecular perspective. In this episode, Megan tells us about the vastly different vision perceptions that animals have from humans and the massive impact light pollution has on t...

Douglas Arion, PhD is the founder and director of Mountains of Stars, a public science outreach and education program that engages the public with ‘ environmental awareness from a cosmic perspective ’.  In this episode, Douglas logically explains why all other living creatures are equal to humans. He warns us of the pitfalls of the plethora of satellites that are going to be orbiting earth.  And y...

Dr. Micah Brodsky is a wildlife veterinarian who focuses on marine animal medicine, research, and conservation and is the Director of Conservation Medicine at Hawaiʻi Marine Animal Response and a lecturer at the University of Hawaiʻi. Dr. Brodsky tells us about the dire consequences of light pollution on Wedgetail Shearwater birds, sea turtles and Monk Seals, to name a few, in Hawai’i.  As he says...

Kelly Beatty has been explaining the science and wonder of astronomy to the public since 1974. An award-winning writer and communicator, he specializes in planetary science and space exploration as Senior Editor for Sky & Telescope magazine.  Kelly talks about the lack of blue light detection in most satellites leading to under-reported levels of light pollution, and he touches on the ongoing...

Bettymaya Foott works for the International Dark-Sky Association as Director of Engagement. Preserving dark skies is her life goal and she finds that astrophotography is the most poignant way to express a love for the night, as well as educate about the impacts of light pollution. If you want to take some great photos of the night sky, listen to Bettymaya here for some of the best places to go and...

Ashley is the Director of Conservation for the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) where she collaborates with advocates and volunteers around the world to help them promote effective uses of outdoor lighting and protect pristine dark skies. Ashley tells us about her work in dark sky awareness and education through the lens of Sensory Ecology.  And listen to her great plumbing analogy for was...

Dr. Fischer operates The Zoological Lighting Institute, a 501 c(3) dedicated to supporting the sciences of light and life through the arts for animal welfare and wildlife conservation. This one is broad ranging.  What are the five domains of animal welfare?  What is a ZALA station? And why should banks become bird friendly?  To find out, give this episode a listen. 

Samyukta is an advocate with the International Dark Sky Association, and a member of their International Committee. She currently works in Slovenia, designing experiences to help people connect with darkness and the night sky. Have you ever heard of Forest Bathing?  Well Samyukta can design a dark sky experience where you can go “Star Bathing.” Give this a listen and you’ll learn about “archeoastr...

If you were fascinated with the previous episode with Peter, listen to this one.  He’s an expert in the field of human perception, but when you’re talking about bringing back the night sky, you’re bound to go into weird and wonderful areas of conversation. This episode touches on flotation tanks, meditation and lucid dreaming. The hour will fly by.

Dr. Rajaram Bhagavathula is a Senior Research Associate in the Division of Vehicle, Driver, & System Safety at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. Dr. Bhagavathula has conducted some fascinating studies on the effects of light on drivers.  He talks about the effects of glare and light bands on driver behaviour, the hypnotic effect, the moth effect, dashboard lights… you'll never drive the...

Robert is the founder and CEO of the Canadian Scotobiology Group Inc. that raises awareness of the impact of artificial light at night (ALAN) on wildlife and human health. Robert talks about “Eco Lights,” how much light you actually need in order to read, the shelf life of hormones and many other fascinating darkness related topics.  He even references the Moody Blues.

Peter has a PhD in Psychology studying human perception, action, and the link between them, with over a decade of experience in conducting research in these topics. Blue light, glare bombs, perception, infrared medicine...these are just a few of the fascinating things touched upon.  We only scratched the surface with Peter.  He’ll be back. 

Andy has been involved in astronomy education and outreach for over 25 years, and in the planetarium field for over 20.  Andy tells us about his successful techniques for teaching kids about the night sky. He’s also had some wins in cases involving “light privilege” and just plain ignorance. Inspiring.