Terms expiring 2025: John Briggs, Jon Holtzman (chair), Marisela La Grave, Jim Price

John Briggs

John W. Briggs has lived and worked at far-ranging observatories in various technical capacities, including Mount Wilson, Yerkes, National Solar, Maria Mitchell, Venezuelan National, Chamberlin, Van Vleck, and South Pole Station. He came to New Mexico with his family in 1997 to assist in the final commissioning of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey at Apache Point. In the 1980s he was an assistant editor at Sky & Telescope magazine and built Bogsucker Observatory in Massachusetts. He is a member of many astronomical organizations including the Springfield Telescope Makers responsible for the annual Stellafane Convention in Vermont, and he has served on the board of the century-old American Association of Variable Star Observers. His principal activity now involves the Astronomical Lyceum, an informal museum, library, laboratory, and lecture hall devoted to historical astronomy and its preservation, and his role as secretary of the new Alliance of Historic Observatories. He is an adjunct in Physics at NMT in Socorro, and he has participated in IDA meetings as early as the 1990s.

John has been a member of the State Council and is standing for re-election to a second term.

Jon Holtzman

Jon Holtzman is a professional astronomer and educator. He is currently an Emeritus Professor of Astronomy at New Mexico State University, where he has worked since 1995. His research interests have led to significant involvement with the Hubble Space Telescope and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. As an educator, he has taught at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Among other public outreach efforts, he has run a series of virtual open houses from the Tortugas Mountain Observatory outside of Las Cruces.
As an outdoor enthusiast, he finds respite from looking at the dark nighttime sky, and wants to ensure that all people have the opportunity to do the same.

Jon has been the Chair of the State Council for the last year, and is standing for re-election to a second term on the Council.

Marisela La Grave

Marisela La Grave, is the founder of Dark Sky Land, Inc, an interdisciplinary night-ecology-wildlife conservation organization, with the mission to preserve a 600-mile astro-wildlife corridor in western New Mexico. She is a New York and New Mexico based Intermedia artist, director, producer, filmmaker, photographer and creator of a collaborative multilayered spectrum of interdisciplinary projects. Her works include the creation and production of experimental films, site-specific installations, essay style documentaries, and time based works for camera, that have been screened, exhibited, presented, installed, and published internationally and housed in private collections and museums around the world. She is the co-founder and the Artistic Director at Magnetic Laboratorium™ (2001-2025) a New York - Paris - New Mexico based transdisciplinary studio.

Marisela has been a member of the State Council and is standing for re-election to a second term.

Sarah McIntyre

I’m a scientist and photographer/astrophotographer in Albuquerque. I am a lifelong New Mexican, and have spent my entire life appreciating New Mexico’s dark skies. As my longstanding interest in astronomy has expanded into astrophotography (and that has expanded from nightscapes to deep space imagery) in recent years, the importance of taking action to protect our dark skies has become increasingly important to me. I’m excited to be a member of NM DarkSky and look forward to being involved with efforts to educate the public and raise awareness of dark skies as a vital natural resource.

Colin Nichols

Colin Nicholls is a PhD Physicist who spent the first 20 years of his career developing advanced instrumentation for industrial process control in Hi Tech research institutions in the US and the UK. For the last 23 years he has worked in education in Taos county, first at Taos High School and now at UNM Taos, where he is currently Science Department Chair. A long time visual astronomer, Nicholls is on the board of the El Valle Astronomers and is working with that club, UNM Taos and the Taos County planners to update the county’s Dark Sky ordinances.

Jim Price

Jim Price is practically a native New Mexican. He has lived in Albuquerque since most of what is now developed was dirt. Jim worked for a lighting company and then started his own. He has sold lighting ranging from miniature lighting for microscopes to parking lot lighting for every type of business. Jim realized the need for shielded lighting when shopping malls and other businesses around Albuquerque with parking lots enlisted him to help them be better neighbors. He realized then that lighting can be made more comfortable and effective through proper aiming and shielding. He has adopted a less is more philosophy with lighting. For example, less glare means more visual acuity. Less stark contrast means more awareness of surroundings. He truly believes that taking the “less” approach leads to “more” satisfying results.

Jim has been a member of the State Council and is standing for re-election to a second term.

Didier Saumon

Didier Saumon has been an amateur astronomer for nearly 50 years and has a fondness for visual observations of the deep sky and exotic objects. He enjoys sharing his passion for the night sky with the public at star parties in the surrounding area. Until his recent retirement, he was an astrophysicist studying white dwarfs, brown dwarfs, exoplanets, and the properties of matter under the extreme conditions found in these objects. He’s had an interest in outdoor lighting and light pollution for three decades and contributed to the development and adoption of a modern lighting ordinance in the county of Los Alamos. He’s witnessed the steady erosion of the night sky over the past 20 years and wants to see it stopped. On good days, he dreams of seeing it reversed to a reasonable level for the benefit of all. May the stars be with you.