Amy Jackson is the founder and director of Starry Sky Austin. Amy’s lifelong dream is to be an astronaut. Growing up in Houston with NASA in her backyard, she visited the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center as often as she could, based all her school science projects on space (yes, each and every one) and went to Space Camp in the 8th grade. Her high school physics teacher, Mr. Burris, inspired her to study physics in college. Her love of the mountains and the outdoors drew her to Colorado where she studied Recreation and Tourism-Interpretation at Colorado State University. She didn’t forget her dream and transferred back home to the University of Houston where she earned her Bachelor of Physics. After graduating from UH she attended Rice University and graduated with a Master of Science Teaching degree and her Texas Teaching Certificate in Science grades 4-8. She taught at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, in private and public school and started a family. A mother of 3, Amy has over 18 years experience teaching and working with the public. She has spent the past 8 years following her passion by inspiring Austin and the surrounding communities with hands-on astronomy classes. She is also currently employed as an astronomy educator at Travis County Milton Reimers Ranch Observatory.
Teaching Experience: Grades 6-12 Science and Math; Houston Museum of Natural Science Astronomy Dept. ; LCRA Hyatt Lost Pines Resort Stargazing ; first Austin Planetarium AstroCamp; Austin Nature and Science Center School Programs; UT Informal Classes; Starry Sky Austin
Volunteer Experience: Project Astro, AISD; LBJ Wildflower Center Nature Nights; Girls Scouts of America Lone Star Chapter; Texas chapter of the International Dark Sky Association
Member: International Dark Sky Association, Austin Astronomical Society, Children in Nature Collaborative of Austin
Her informal approach to teaching allows for lots of questioning without feeling intimidated by the subject matter. We are all lifelong learners.