Watch the hangout on the AWB Google+ Channel. If you missed the hangout or would ike to watch it again, it is available to watch on YouTube.

Duane Hamacher

A trained astrophysicist, Dr Duane Hamacher is a lecturer in the Nura Gili Indigenous Centre at the University of New South Wales. After studying planets orbiting other stars for two years, his interest in the crossroads of science and culture was too great and he decided to complete a PhD in Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University. He researches in how navigating the boundaries between Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science can show how these ways of understanding the natural world are beneficial to both.

You can read more about Hamacher's work here and watch a video of his TEDx talk here.

Matthew Whitehouse

Organist, composer, and astronomy educator Matthew Whitehouse has appeared in recitals throughout the United States. His compositions have been performed in the United States and Europe. One of his major artistic interests is engaging audiences in exploring connections between music and astronomy. His solo organ work Nebulae, a musical narrative on the process of star formation, has been performed in such venues as Notre Dame Cathedral and St. Sulpice in Paris. In February 2010, Whitehouse was a featured performer and presenter at a music/astronomy outreach event at Biosphere 2, located just outside of Tucson. Pleiades Visions (2012), his most recent organ work, is inspired by traditional music and mythology associated with the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) star cluster. Improvisation is another of Whitehouse’s specialties, and his organ recitals frequently include improvisations inspired by astronomical images.

Whitehouse currently serves as Observatory Manager at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia. Since 2006 he has served on the instructional staff of The University of Arizona Astronomy Camp (hosted at Kitt Peak National Observatory), for which he has developed a series of guided listening experiences highlighting connections between music and science.

Whitehouse holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance from The University of Arizona. He completed undergraduate studies in organ performance at The University of South Carolina, and holds the Master of Music degree in organ performance from The University of Arizona.

Robert Eklund

Bob Eklund has loved the sky all his life. At age five, he went to live with his grandfather, who worked at the historic Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin. After his grandfather showed him Saturn through one of Yerkes' great telescopes, he wanted to be an astronomer—but he had such a hard time with math that he instead became a writer, editor, teacher, and astropoet.

For many years Bob has helped the Mount Wilson Observatory in California with its public outreach programs. He is the author of a book of poetry about astronomy, First Star I See Tonight: An Exploration of Wonder. His column, "Looking Up," appears weekly in several Southern California newspapers. Since 2010 he has been Editor of the AWB AstroPoetry Blog

To learn more about Eklund visit his website