Murray D. Paulson
Profile Type:
Pro-Am Presenter
Speaking Topics:
Meteorites: The fossil remnant of our solar system's formation.
Meteorite hunting at Buzzard Coulee SK and Whitecourt AB
Expeditions to Darkness, my life as a solar eclipse chaser.
30 years of Astrophotography
Centre Affiliation:
Edmonton
Email:
Telephone:
17809946101
Alternate Phone(s):
780-459-1168
Can deliver other talks similar to the above:
Yes
Willing to consider creating a custom presentation:
Yes
Starting Airport:
YEG
Regional Availability:
Far North
Southwestern Ontario
Northeastern Ontario
Northwestern Ontario
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Northern Alberta
Southern Alberta
Northern and Central BC
Lower Mainland
Victoria and Sunshine Coast
Target Audiences:
All ages including children
General audiences (adults)
Astronomy enthusiasts
Languages:
English only
I have given talks about solar eclipses and Meteorite hunting at the Mt. Kobau Star Party, SSSP and Alberta Star Party and also for club meetings such as Edmonton, Calgary, Medicine Hat and Winnipeg. I have also given talks to public audiences like scouts and schools. I have an enthusiasm for travel, observing and meteorite hunting. In 2009, I organized a team of Edmonton area astronomers and we did a systematic hunt for Buzzard Coulee meteorites over the months of April and May. We had a very cooperative land owner and by the time we were chased off the field for spring planting, we had recovered and systematically docmented 745 meteorites. Alan Hildebrandt used my information to brag that Buzzard coulee had outstripped the Buderheim meteorite fall in sheer numbers. Four months later Dr. Chris Herd asked me to do the same at the Whitecourt Crater in north centra Alberta. After two years of searching we presented him with 3500 data points which included mass, depth of find and gps coordinates for every specimen.
Presentation skills: For reasons unknown, I connect well with my audience. It may be the fact that I have been giving talks since I was in grad school and I have probably given over 100 in my speaking career. I have been invited to do the feature talk , the Father Lucian Kemble talk at the SSSP. On the topic of Solar eclipses, I have been lucky enough to go to 11 total solar eclipses around the globe. Not all have been successful, but they have been an adventure and I add a bit of the travel and highlights to my talk on the eclipses. I have been consistently invited to give a talk for the various star parties that I attend. My references would be the SSSP commitee, Jay anderson of the WInnipeg center, Alan Dyer and the Mt. Kobau star party.
Cheers.