

Artificial lighting has chased away the dark with devastating effect on insects, birds, humans and other species. Fireflies simply stop blinking rather than compete with lights, giving up their breeding success for our artificial lights. With Ken Walczak of Adler Planetarium and DarkSky Chicago, learn about the dark skies movement, ways to bring back the dark, and if brighter is really safer. Could Evanston become a dark skies city?
Ken Walczak is the Senior Manager of Far Horizons at the Adler Planetarium - a scientific research and engineering program engaging students, volunteers and the public in hands-on, participatory exploration. He has helped design and implement instruments for light pollution research from the ground and the stratosphere. He has coauthored numerous papers on the subject. He helped lead the designation of the world’s largest Urban Night Sky Place - the Palos Preserves - southwest of Chicago. He owned and lighting and furniture design company, studied photography and filmmaking and is an accomplished science and astronomy communicator. He is also a board member of DarkSky International and helped cofound the local DarkSky Chicago chapter.