As a member of the Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society, you have the privilege to vote for colleagues who will serve as your representatives on the MAPS Executive Committee. MAPS encourages your participation in this key activity that has a lasting impact on our organization.

MAPS members – check your inbox in January for your online voting invitation. Voting will be open from January 15-31, 2025. We thank you for your participation in this election, and in MAPS overall.

Election information from MAPS By-Laws:

  • Officers shall be elected on a mail-in or electronic ballot by the membership in January.
  • Terms of office shall be for two years.
  • The President-Elect, Secretary, and Treasurer-Elect shall be elected in odd-numbered years, and the Board Members elected in even numbered years.
  • Officers will assume their positions on June 1 of the year in which they are elected.
Review the candidates’ bios for the positions of President-Elect, Secretary, and Treasurer-Elect for MAPS 2025 Officer Elections in the table below.

President-Elect

Candidate

Candidate Statement




James Bauman

Hello! My name is James Bauman, the Planetarium Director for the North Penn Planetarium at the North Penn High School in Lansdale, Pennsylvania and I am honored to be nominated for the position of MAPS President-Elect.

I have been a high school and middle school Physics teacher for almost 28 years, but it wasn’t until 2011 that I discovered the joy of working in a planetarium. That was when my eyes were opened to a new world of teaching under the dome.

The problem that I faced however, was my lack of planetarium experience. Fortunately, I discovered MAPS and that led me to be introduced to some great people that helped point me in the right direction. With that guidance I began to feel comfortable in the dome, teaching with the wonderful equipment in the planetarium. I don’t know where I would have ended up without the help that MAPS offered me.

Now I feel that it is my turn to give back to the planetarium world that has so enriched my life for the past 14 years. I am currently serving on the Constitutional Review Committee in MAPS and was involved with the MAPS IDEA committee this past summer. Since the conference this past June, I have been working to try and grow our membership here in Pennsylvania. This is starting to show dividends, as I have recently created a PA Local Group of planetarium directors. It is my hope to see all of them at a future MAPS conference. Thank you for the consideration and nomination for the position of MAPS President-Elect. I look forward to continuing working with the MAPS community in the years to come.




Tim Collins

Hello friends, colleagues and fellow MAPS Members! I am honored to again be nominated for President-Elect of the Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society. I attended my first MAPS conference as a student in 1992 at the Carnegie Science Center/Buhl Planetarium in Pittsburgh, where I was introduced to a brand new world of fellow educators and great friends. Last year, I was honored to receive the MAPS Fellowship award and look forward to continuing to serve our community. I have been your Web Committee Chair since 2010, and am currently a Research Associate in Astronomy with the Buffalo Museum of Science, and available to continue contributions to the museum’s Kellogg Observatory and portable Zygmunt Planetarium. I also served as a leading member of the Buffalo Eclipse Consortium for the 2024 eclipse and recently have been elected to the Board of Directors of our local amateur astronomy group, the Buffalo Astronomical Association and the Beaver Meadow Observatory. Whether under simulated or authentic skies, I have always enjoyed presenting the cosmos to the diverse groups of visitors at any facility.

I have presented and written programs at the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium under Dr. James Orgren, the Williamsville Space Lab Planetarium, and succeeded the late Dr. Ernst Both as Observatory Manager for the Kellogg Observatory at the Buffalo Museum of Science. Over my career, I have also had the honor of working with our local media publicizing major astronomical events.

Today, I co-host The 7th Magnitude podcast, and continue to do outreach throughout Western New York at the observatories. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues in the Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society in enhancing the experiences of our guests and our colleagues at all of our facilities.

Thank you very much for your time!




Patrick McQuillan

I am honored to have been nominated, and if elected, I look forward to working with the MAPS membership and the Executive Committee to help make MAPS a valuable educational resource for MAPS members, schools, and the general public. The MAPS region is one of the most diverse planetarium associations in existence. As MAPS President, I hope to energize the membership to utilize our vast resources to engage all planetarians in the region (from portable planetariums to large science center planetariums). Together we can collaborate and develop programs that will make the MAPS region a model for planetarium program development and delivery.

My professional experience with planetariums includes Starlabs to the largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere. I have seen many trends in the planetarium field with hardware going from totally manual to fully digital, and programming going from live to pre-recorded to virtual and back.

In these extraordinary times, planetariums are challenged more than ever to find ways to remain a relevant and trusted member of the community. The Planetarium should be seen as the go-to entity for consistently high-quality programs and exhibits, not only by the local audience, but also across the state and nationwide. I always strive to find the most innovative, scalable, and exciting way to develop programs. A program cannot just be good; it has to be outstanding! With your support, I hope to be given the opportunity to work with you to take MAPS to the next level.

Secretary

Candidate

Candidate Statement




Amie Gallagher

I remember my first trip to a planetarium. I was about eight years old. My mother took my sister and I to the Newark Museum. All I remember from that visit is that it was dark. Fast forward to senior year of high school, and my church youth group went to the Hayden Planetarium in New York to see Laser Beatles. I had no idea at the time that soon, I would work in both of these fine facilities.

I have been an educator and show producer at the Newark Museum (Newark, NJ), Hayden Planetarium (New York City), and Raritan Valley Community College (Branchburg, NJ). I have been the Planetarium Director at RVCC for more than ten years. No matter how many years I work in a dome, I find something new to learn just about every day. One of the best parts about being a MAPS member is the opportunity to meet so many people. Attending in-person conferences is definitely the best, but virtual meetings are fantastic, too. Once I know a few people, I feel comfortable reaching out to them to ask questions. Because yes, even after 30+ years in the field, I still have questions. It’s absolutely wonderful to hear about all the cool things people are doing in their planetariums!

Being Secretary of MAPS over the past few years has allowed me to help shape the present and future of our organization. I look forward to working with MAPS members near and far, as well as the Executive Committee, to keep lines of communication open and moving. We need to be in touch with each other more than once a year at conferences. After all, we are a community.

Treasurer-Elect

Candidate

Candidate Statement




Connor Marti

Thank you for the nomination! I’m Connor Marti, the Planetarium Assistant of the Edelman Planetarium at Rowan University. I have been in this position for three years, which would have surprised me if you told me that three years ago. I expected to quickly apply to astronomy graduate programs and return to the research side of astronomy that I knew best. Well, you people have drawn me in and are stuck with me for the foreseeable future. I hope you choose to be officially stuck with me as your MAPS Treasurer-Elect!

I am happy to see MAPS leadership consider the continuity of the organization with the creation of this officer role, and I encourage further investment in the future. MAPS should focus on strengthening the connections among our members. We should foster a greater sense of community, in particular among early-career planetarians who have fewer opportunities to attend conferences and meet other people in the field. At the Edelman Planetarium, we recently hosted a New Jersey meeting to share ideas, discuss future collaboration, and become closer as colleagues. I encourage other subregions to do the same, and I support continued funding to make these meetings sustainable.

I also strongly endorse the creation of the IDEA Committee. MAPS membership should better reflect the diverse communities we serve, and we should have the tools and skills to embrace these communities in our own domes. MAPS must consider the best ways to ensure this committee’s success, including financial support where needed.

Thank you for your consideration for Treasurer-Elect. I’m looking forward to working with you in the future 🙂