Outreach and Education |
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Outreach is the process by which the excitement and importance of the research we do in Auger is presented to the public, and in particular to the school students in the area. The outreach and education effort for Auger North began modestly in 2003 with visits by physicists from Colorado State University (CSU) and Colorado University to schools in Baca, Bent, and Prowers counties and with public meetings in the county seats. The overall outreach program for the Auger Observatory is headed by Prof. Greg Snow from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He is supported on the Northern Auger outreach program by Brad Thompson at Lamar Community College. Prof. Snow and his colleagues from Auger institutes around the world have built a program with many facets at the Southern Auger Site in Argentina. One of the main outreach activities in Argentina takes place in the visitor center at the site in Malargüe. Thousands of visitors pass through the center each year and learn about the Pierre Auger Observatory. We plan, with support from the State of Colorado, to build a visitor center for Auger North at Lamar Community College on land donated by the College. |
Visitor center and offices at the southern Auger site in Malargue, Argentina. Large size 
Projects at the Regional Science Fair at Lamar Community College, March 1st, 2006. 
Brad Thompson of Lamar Community College explained cosmic rays to parents and students
at the Regional Science Fair.
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The outreach program for Auger North started in earnest in March 2006 at the Regional Science Fair at
Lamar Community College. Over 200 students had science projects at the fair. Greg Snow and John Harton of
CSU briefly spoke to the parents and students,
Fred Sarazin, of Colorado School of Mines, brought scintillators and electronics to Lamar to reproduce Auger's
original observations of small cosmic rayshowers and three sets of Geiger counters, provided by the State of
Colorado, were also demonstrated at the Fair. In future, these Geiger counters will be traveling to local area
schools in Southeastern Colorado so the students can detect cosmic rays in their classroom.
For those interested in learning what a shower looks like when the Auger Observatory detects it, here is a link to a page where some of the Auger detections have been released for public viewing. |
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This web site is dedicated to informing the public about the Auger North site in southeast Colorado and
provides links to local resources and people who are working to facilitate building the northern site. Questions
and answers can be found at the links here and on the main Auger web page.
Background image:© ESO Education & Public Relations Department