We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dean Regas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dean, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Most people have never looked through a telescope. I want to get people to put their eye up to the eyepiece, look at the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, and the rings of Saturn and have that one-on-one experience with the universe. I began a project called Future Galileos that recruited and trained 130 astronomy educators, community leaders, individuals and teams on how to use a large, quality telescope And at the end of the project they get to take the telescope home and share it with their communities. To date, these teams have worked with more than 50,000 people across Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.

In the past year I also donated 15 telescopes to the Cincinnati Libraries that can be check out like library books. The telescopes have already been checked out and used nearly 200 times.

Dean, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have been the Astronomer for the Cincinnati Observatory since 2000 and am an educator, author, national popularizer of astronomy and an expert in observational astronomy. I bring the complicated field of astronomy down to Earth for audiences of all ages and my passion for the subject comes through in my talks, writing, videos, and podcasts. Astronomy education is my calling!

I found astronomy by accident. I graduated from college with a History degree but didn’t want to teach in the classroom. Instead I worked part-time for the Cincinnati Parks. At one of the parks I was put in charge of the little planetarium – without even knowing where to find the North Star. But during training, something happened – it was almost like a religious moment. When the stars hits the ceiling a light went on inside me. I know right then that this was the coolest subject in the universe. I dove in, learned all I could, and 25 years later it is my career. Actually, since it involve almost all aspects of my life, I refer to being an Astronomer as “My Lifestyle.”

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I would say there are two (in order) 1) Seeing a person put their eye up to a telescope and seeing their face literally light up. I hear so many “Wows,” gasps, and see people speechless at what they are observing.

2) Being able to travel. I’m also an eclipse chaser which is someone who travels the globe to go to the best places to see lunar and solar eclipses. It’s the best excuse for travel ever. But additionally I get to visit other observatories around the world and have recently been partnering with the National Parks to help guide their night sky and astronomy programming. Last fall I served as Grand Canyon’s Astronomer in Residence where I lived and worked at the canyon for a month.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think it is my genuineness. I truly, truly love what I do. I love astronomy and education (and entertainment to some degree) and it comes through in interviews, speaking gigs, and my writing. I so often hear people comment on this fact, “You must love your job” is my favorite reaction.

The other response I often hear is, “Wow, I wasn’t expecting that.” I’m not dry and boring and long winded. I usually surprise people with my casual manner of speaking and humor. One interviewer told me, “You sound more like a game show host than an astronomer” – which I took as a supreme compliment.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cincinnatiobservatory.org/dean-regas/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deanregas/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dean.regas
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-regas-784a5668
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DeanRegas

Image Credits
Main picture: Mary Strubbe Picture of me looking through a telescope: Shae Combs The others: no credit needed