About the Astroteacher

The Astroteacher is Brian Kruse, science educator, geologist, astronomer, birder, photographer, poet.

He lives in La Selva Beach, California where he is the retired Director of the Teacher Learning Center and Formal Education Programs at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, where he managed and coordinated a varied portfolio of programs, including:

• From Pinholes to Space Telescopes, a suite of professional development workshops conducted with funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
• Project ASTRO National Network and San Francisco Bay Area Project ASTRO
• NASA Galileo Educator Network and Galileo Teacher Training Program
• Summer Astronomy Institute, an annual four-day professional development for teachers focused on supporting teachers in their implementation of 3-dimensional instruction on space science as called for in the Next Generation Science Standards.
• Learn@ASP: an online portal of professional development opportunities for educators.
• For many years Kruse was the host for the monthly series of NASA Night Sky Network webinars, featuring astronomers and project scientists on a variety of NASA missions and programs.
• Project PLANET: An Integrated Approach to Early Elementary Earth and Space Science, with funding from the National Science Foundation, researched an instructional sequence in early elementary grades with an integrated planetarium experience.
• Eclipse Stars and the NASA Partner Eclipse Ambassadors.  Two programs providing professional development to educators and amateur astronomers to build their skills in providing public outreach related to the recent solar eclipses.

He also edited the online newsletter for teachers The Universe in the Classroom, and wrote the Education Matters column for Mercury magazine, a quarterly publication of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

A veteran classroom teacher, Kruse has taught middle school earth science and physical science, and high school physics, earth science, physical science and integrated science. He served for three years as a coordinator for the NASA Explorer Schools project at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Kruse holds a B.S. in Geology from Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, and a M.S. in Aviation and Space Science from Oklahoma State University. He currently holds a California Clear Single Subject Teaching Credential in Physics, Geosciences, and Biological Sciences. He is particularly interested in how people learn and creating opportunities for teachers to incorporate more inquiry-based learning in their classrooms.

In addition to work and play, Kruse has served as the Region F Director for NSELA, the National Science Education Leadership Association, and on the Board of Directors for the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers.

In retirement he is often found hiking, birding, or looking through his telescopes at the night sky.  Kruse is also volunteering at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, and as a Snowy Plover Guardian with California State Parks.

You can find him on Twitter at @astroteacherm8; and on LinkedIn

See more of his photography on Flickr, and on his portfolio page.