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: Acts as a clearinghouse for information on these topics and, whenever possible, helps those who are attempting to combat the problem.

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 Liaison

Edmund Bertschinger (He/Him/His)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Board Liaison

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2023

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

Daniel B. Caton (He/Him/His)

Appalachian State University

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2023

Jonathan C. McDowell

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Term: Feb 2022 – Jun 2025

Jeffrey C. Hall (He/They)

Lowell Observatory

Term: Jun 2022 – Jun 2025

Richard F. Green

University of Arizona

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2023

Vice Chair for Policy

Meredith L. Rawls (She/Her/Hers)

University of Washington/Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Term: Feb 2022 – Jun 2025

Dan McKenna

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2023

Harvey Liszt

NRAO - Charlottesville

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2023

Vice Chair for Radio Interference

Julie D. Davis (She/Her/Hers)

American Physical Society (APS)

Term: Jun 2021 – Jun 2023

Vice Chair for Satcons; Consultant to the Committee

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

Constance E. Walker (She/Her/Hers)

NSF's NOIRLab / IAU CPS

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2023

Vice Chair for Satcons

James D. Lowenthal (He/Him/His)

Smith College

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2023

Vice Chair for Light Pollution

Lori Allen (She/Her/Hers)

NSF's NOIRLab

Term: Jun 2021 – Jun 2024

Patrick Seitzer

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2023

Vice Chair for Space Debris

John C. Barentine

Dark Sky Consulting, LLC

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2023

Secretary

Bethany R. Johns (She/Her/Hers)

American Astronomical Society (AAS)

Term: Apr 2022 – Jun 2023

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

International Dark Sky Association

Term: Apr 2023 – Jun 2024

Savannah R. Pobre (She/Her/Hers)

Princeton University

Term: Apr 2023 – Jun 2024

Lucie Afko (She/Her/Hers)

Johns Hopkins University

Term: Apr 2023 – Jun 2024

Douglas N. Arion

Mountains of Stars

Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2023