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Staff

	Dr. Howard Mooers Dr. Howard Mooers is Director of the Planetarium and Professor and Head of the Department of Geological Sciences. Howard teaches Introduction to Astronomy as well as numerous courses in geology. An avid amateur astronomer since his youth, Howard spends evenings with his 8-year-old daughter in his private observatory.
	Shane Loeffler Shane is a sophomore Geology major at UMD. He is also pursuing an Astronomy minor. A native of the North Shore, he enjoys the outdoors and nature in all of its many forms. He loves science and the cosmic perspective that it brings, especially astronomy.
	Aaron Slonecker Ever since Aaron first watched Star Wars, he has wanted to study the objects and evolution of our solar system. Aaron hails all the way from the West Coast and received his B.S. in Planetary Science and minor in Astrophysics from the University of California Santa Cruz in 2008. In the fall of 2011 he started graduate school at UMD and plans on getting a Masters degree in Geology/Planetary Science. For his thesis project he will be mapping structural features on an area of Venus and analyzing their temporal and spatial relationships.
	Steve Hendrickson Steven Hendrickson is a History and German studies double major and International Studies and Russian Minor. He has concentrated his studies on the development of the American and Russian space programs and the history of science and technology. He is also involved on campus as a leader in the Student Legislative Coalition and Student Association.
	Paul Blakely Paul Blakely is a BFA Technical theatre major in the School of Fine Arts at UMD. He specializes in sound and lighting, and helps program the planetarium's lighting and projection effects. He is also involved as chair of USITT and as Publicity Director for Stage 2 Theatre.
	Shawn Weddel Shawn Weddel studies Earth and Space Science Education at UMD and plans to teach high school and eventually college physical science. An unhealthy obsession with Star Wars lead to severe bouts of excitement, thus enticing his interest in Astronomy. He is made of star stuff, and THAT IS COOL.
	Kimberly Seifert  Kimberly is a freshman at UMD who is studying to get a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Design and Tech. She has recently taken an interest in astronomy, thanks to a close friend. Her favorite part about working at the planetarium is learning new things about space. In her spare time, Kimberly likes to do photography and sing. Her coworkers shun her due to the fact that she has not seen Star Wars.
	Emily Vanlonden  Emily is a junior at UMD who is majoring in Cell and Molecular Biology with two minors in Chemistry and Astronomy. She enjoys shunning Kim in her spare time for not watching Star Wars. She likes Star Wars. She also swims competitively for North Shore Swim Team and has been into astronomy her whole life.