Amy Jackson

Amy is the Night Sky Program Director for the Travis County Parks Foundation, where she shares her love of the stars through astronomy education and night sky preservation in Travis County Parks. She is also the founder and director of Starry Sky Austin where she has taught observational astronomy for UT Informal Classes, the Girl Scouts of Central Texas Space Science Badge programs, homeschool stargazing classes and Travis County Parks Reimers Observatory.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Houston, a Master of Science Teaching from Rice University, is a certified science teacher (grades 4–8) and recently finished her MS in Geography at Texas State University where we researched sky brightness caused by light pollution in Texas. She is a 2017 Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassador and is currently an Astro Accel associate researching wonder and awe in informal astronomy experiences.

Amy has worked with Dark Sky Texas, the Hill Country Alliance, and helped Milton Reimers Ranch Park, Shield Ranch and the City of Liberty Hill become designated Dark Sky Places. She is also the author of two children’s books written to inspire young stargazers.

Originally from Houston, Amy lives in Austin with her husband and three daughters, enjoying time outdoors, spreading night sky education and advocating for dark skies in Central Texas.