THE TEAM
Kate Meredith
President and Director of Education
Kate founded GLAS Education in 2018 after the University of Chicago ended eduation programs at Yerkes Observatory. With the assistance of independent grants and the UChicago, Kate turned GLAS, Geneva Lake Astrophysics and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math), into an independent nonprofit devoted to making science education accessible to all students. As the former Director of Yerkes Education Outreach (YEO), Kate brought two key programs with her to GLAS: Innovators Developing Accessible Tools for Astronomy (IDATA) and Sloan Digital Sky Survey outreach. Kate has also taken a leadership role in advancing sonification, a process of turning visual information into an organized series of sounds and tones to enable blind and visually impaired (BVI) researchers access data. Kate was recognized by the Geneva Lake branch of the American Association of University Women for her leadership in astronomy education and was awarded the National Federation for the Blind Bolotin Award in 2020.
Adam McCulloch
Education and Outreach Manager
Adam studied physics at Carthage College where he developed a strong interest in astronomy education and outreach. He also works part time for the Horwitz-DeRemer Planetarium in Waukesha, WI, and at Yerkes Observatory, where he operates the famous 40-inch refractor telescope. Adam puts his astronomy experience to good use at GLAS, leading night sky telescope expeditions during star parties. Adam manages GLAS’s Dark Skies program, which encourages local communities to adopt best practices for maintaining dark night-time skies in Walworth County. He is also involved with the LENSS (Lakeshore Environmental and Night Sky Sensor) project, which uses sensors to measure the darkness of night skies around Geneva Lake. Adam joined the Yerkes Education Outreach staff in 2017 where he was an operator of Yerkes’ 24-inch telescope, and when Yerkes closed linked up with GLAS Education. Look for Adam at star parties, summer classes, special events and collecting data from night sky monitors around the lake.
Chris Kirby
Project Manager
GLAS was very fortunate the day Chris walked in and offered his services. Over time, his responsibilities have grown in significance and importance. Having grown up in the warm climes of South Africa, Chris claimed that he joined GLAS as a distraction from the frigid Wisconsin winters. But his distraction has benefited GLAS immeasurably. A project manager by training and experience, Chris brought a new perspective and structure to LENSS, and has given shape and direction to the GLAS Geneva Lake water quality project. And he speaks engineering! Chris has proven himself to be a natural teacher, using the important elements of GLAS’s project and design experiences to engage students in building the technology that makes those projects work.
Christy Albrecht
Business Manager
When Christy joined the GLAS Education Staff, it was more a homecoming than a hire. Christy, daughter of Yerkes astronomer Kyle Cudworth, grew up on the grounds of Yerkes Observatory. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in May 2018 and was about to become Kate Meredith’s first full-time hire for Yerkes Education Outreach when the observatory closed in October 2018. Life next took her on an adventure that included relocating to Chicago, marriage, and a year in California. Family and friends were thrilled to welcome her back to the area in June 2020. She barely unpacked before she was planning star parties and writing grants for GLAS. Christy took on office manager’s responsibilities, and later took a seat as Treasurer of the GLAS Board of Directors, helping GLAS step confidently into the future. She now works primarily from home with the job title of “Mom,” caring for her daughter, Ruth.
Amelia Malling - Research and Information Coordinator
Research and Information Coordinator
What organization couldn’t use a trilingual librarian? GLAS has one in Amelia. She brings a unique skill set to GLAS with her undergraduate degrees in Spanish and Mandarin and literature along with her MLIS from UW–Milwaukee. There doesn’t seem to be an issue or topic that she can’t research and report on for GLAS. She has also been involved in translating documents into Spanish. When not researching or translating, Amelia is known to create amazing articles of clothing with her knitting needles. And she is a top notch pie baker.
Chris Schultz
Newsroom
Chris spent nine years as a reporter at the Lake Geneva Regional News and has more than forty years of journalistic experience with daily and weekly newspapers around the Midwest. He creates much of the text that appears on GLAS websites and social media posts. Although not an astronomer, he will be at almost every star party or public event with his notepad and camera recording events and promoting GLAS outreach efforts. He has become an increasingly frequent presence at the office in the past months, helping with everything from star parties to web page creation and cleaning and organizing. His consistency and good humor earned him the designation of “habitual volunteer.”
