Committees

Committee for the Protection of Astronomy and the Space Environment (COMPASSE)

Contact

Alice K. B. Monet, AAS Secretary
Alice K. B. Monet
AAS Secretary

History: Name changed (April 2023), formerly the Committee for Light Pollution, Radio Interference, and Space Debris (LPRISD); Name changed (January 1988, Austin)

Members: Appointed by the Board of Trustees.

Term: Three years, June - June, from the close of one Annual Members' Meeting to the close of the next Annual Members' Meeting.

Chair: One year, June to June, from the close of one Annual Members' Meeting to the close of the next Annual Members' Meeting.

Charge: COMPASSE represents the interests of AAS relating to the protection of dark and radio-quiet skies, the safe and sustainable use of outer space, and related issues, and empowers AAS members to be effective advocates for the protection of US astronomy.

More Information


Recent Materials from the Committee:

  • 2022 Webinar: From Sky Glow to Satellite Swarms: Challenges to Astronomy from Ground and Space (Video | Slides)
  • 2022 Response to Request for Information from White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on uses of Cislunar Space (Document
  • 2021: SATCON2 Report (Archive)
  • 2020: SATCON1 Report
  • 2020: The Industrialization of Space (Presentation; Chris Impey, University of Arizona) 
  • 2020: Mega-Constellations of Satellites and Optical Astronomy (Presentation | Press Briefing; Patrick Seitzer, University of Michigan)
  • 2020: Radio Astronomy in a New Era of Radiocommunication (Presentation | Press Briefing; Harvey Liszt, National Radio Astronomy Observatory)
  • 2020: Satellite's Impacts on the General Public (Presentation | Press Briefing; Ruskin Hartley, International Dark-Sky Association)
  • 2020: Starlink and the Astronomers (Press Briefing; Jeffrey C. Hall, Lowell Observatory)

Timeline of activity on Satellite Constellation Issues

2022 Satellite Constellation Advocacy Leave-Behind

Board of Trustees Liaisons

Grant Tremblay (He/Him/His)

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Board Liaison

Term: Jun 2023 – Jun 2024

Lisa A. Prato

Lowell Observatory
Board Liaison

Term: Aug 2023 – Jun 2024

Committee Co-Chairs

Teznie Pugh

McDonald Observatory, UT Austin
Co-Chair

Term: Jun 2022 – Jun 2024

Aparna Venkatesan

University of San Francisco
Co-Chair

Term: Jun 2022 – Jun 2024

Committee Members

James Stuart Sweitzer (He/Him/His)

SCC

Term: Jun 2021 – Jun 2024

Jonathan C. McDowell (He/They)

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Term: Feb 2022 – Jun 2025

Jeffrey C. Hall (He/Him/His)

Lowell Observatory

Term: Jun 2022 – Jun 2025

Meredith L. Rawls (She/Her/Hers)

University of Washington/Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Term: Feb 2022 – Jun 2025

Charles Lee Mudd, Jr. (He/Him/His)

Mudd Law

Term: Jun 2021 – Jun 2024

Vice Chair for Policy

Jessica Heim

University of Southern Queensland

Term: Jun 2021 – Jun 2024

Vice Chair for Community Engagement

Sarah Marie Michelle Bruno (She/Her/Hers)

Johns Hopkins University

Term: Feb 2022 – Jun 2025

Lori Allen (She/Her/Hers)

NSF's NOIRLab

Term: Jun 2021 – Jun 2024

Aaron C. Boley (He/Him/His)

University of British Columbia

Term: Apr 2023 – Jun 2024

Michelle Wooten (She/Her/Hers)

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Term: Apr 2023 – Jun 2024

Samantha Lawler (She/Her/Hers)

University of Regina

Term: Apr 2023 – Jun 2024

Yaswant Devarakonda (He/They)

American Astronomical Society (AAS)

Term: Apr 2023 – Jun 2024

Roohi Dalal (She/Her/Hers)

Princeton University

Term: Apr 2023 – Jun 2024

Ruskin K. Hartley (He/Him/His)

DarkSky International

Term: Apr 2023 – Jun 2024

Savannah R. Pobre (She/Her/Hers)

Princeton University

Term: Apr 2023 – Jun 2024

Lucie Afko (She/Her/Hers)

Duke University

Term: Apr 2023 – Jun 2024

Daniel B. Caton (He/Him/His)

Appalachian State University

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2024

Richard F. Green

University of Arizona

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2024

Vice Chair for Policy

Constance E. Walker (She/Her/Hers)

NSF's NOIRLab / IAU CPS

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2024

Vice Chair for Satcons

James D. Lowenthal (He/Him/His)

Smith College

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2024

Vice Chair for Light Pollution

Patrick Seitzer

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2024

Vice Chair for Space Debris

Douglas N. Arion

Mountains of Stars/Carthage College

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2024

John C. Barentine

Dark Sky Consulting, LLC

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2024

Secretary

Bethany R. Johns

American Astronomical Society (AAS)

Term: Apr 2022 – Jun 2024

Dan McKenna

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2024

Harvey Liszt

NRAO - Charlottesville

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2024

Vice Chair for Radio Interference

Julie D. Davis (She/Her/Hers)

American Physical Society (APS)

Term: Jun 2021 – Jun 2024

Vice Chair for Satcons; Consultant to the Committee

Diane E. Turnshek

Carnegie Mellon University

Term: Jan 2024 – Jan 2027

Vayujeet Gokhale (He/Him/His)

Truman State University

Term: Jan 2024 – Jan 2027

Joshua S. Reding (He/Him/His)

AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow

Term: Jan 2024 – Jan 2027

Lindsay M. DeMarchi

Northwestern University

Term: Jan 2024 – Jan 2027

Tiffany Nichols (She/Her/Hers)

Princeton University

Term: Jan 2024 – Jan 2027