Royal Astronomical Society Conference: Light Pollution and its Impacts

The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is organising a free one-day hybrid conference entitled ‘Light Pollution and its Impacts’. The conference will have multiple sessions from invited speakers from organisations including All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Dark Skies, Buglife, Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Dark Skies Cumbria, Dark Sky UK and Dark Sky International as well as speakers from European-funded sister projects AquaPLAN and PLAN-B.

The conference sessions will cover topics such as policy and regulation, environment and biodiversity, and human health. Approaches to effectively tackle light pollution will be discussed, while looking at the current regulatory landscape in the UK, opportunities for improvement, local interventions and best practices in the UK and elsewhere in the world.

The invited speakers include:

• Andrew Griffith MP (Co-chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group for Dark Skies and former Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation)
• Dani Robertson (Dark Sky Officer, Prosiect Nos Partnership)
• David Smith (Advocacy and Social Change Manager, Buglife)
• Jack Ellerby (Cumbria Dark Skies Officer, Friends of the Lake District)
• Anna Levin (Author, Dark Skies)
• Prof. Tim Smith (Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) and AquaPLAN) 
• Yana Yakushina (Space Court Foundation and PLAN-B) 
• Prof. Kevin Gaston (University of Exeter/Dark Sky International)
• Prof. Christopher Barnes (University of Derby)
• Emma Marrington (CPRE)
• Roy Alexander (Dark Skies UK)
• Dan Oakley (Darkscape Consulting)
• Duncan Wise (Northumberland National Park)

By highlighting the environmental, economic, and public health impacts of light pollution, as well as its effects on astronomy, the conference aims to equip attendees with the tools to craft effective policies and practices that balance human needs with protection of the night sky and the natural environment.

Register here.

The conference will run from 9am – 5pm GMT. Anyone with an interest in light pollution is welcome to attend.

Learn more.