Today on the Best Dam Podcast we have the honor of speaking with Ashley Pipkin.
 
Ashley is a Biologist for the National Park Service, Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division, and the Basin and Range Dark Sky Cooperative. 

Ashley is passionate about protecting natural night skies and caring for our nation’s amazing natural resources. She is a federal employee, and her job is to help the American public. Right now she is assisting the City of Boulder City with implementing smart lighting practices that will benefit night sky quality and community wellbeing. 

Ashley is inspired to see positive change by working with communities, parks, and partners and making sure they have all the information they need to make the best choices. In today’s rushed world there are so many options and so little time to understand all of them but providing folks with the information they need to make the best choices is really inspiring to her.

Recent news stories or industry topics
 
Journal of Environmental Management - Changes in night sky brightness after a countywide LED retrofit     https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479721008380

Is Astrotourism The Next Big Thing? Incredible Nighttime Outdoor Adventures For Stargazers?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/wendyaltschuler/2019/08/31/is-astrotourism-the-next-big-thing-incredible-nighttime-outdoor-adventures-for-stargazers/?sh=4b14913c51d3

"AHA" Moment etc.

Ashley shared her "AHA" moment, how to become involved in improving night sky lighting. 

We also learned a little more about who Ashley Pipkin is in her personal life, what inspired her to become a night skies biologist, how her run-in with an alligator mother went for her, and what book she is reading today.

Media

Boulder City Review - Preservation efforts expand upward
Council move forward with Dark Skies initiative
View On Magazine- Starry Starry Nights
 Oregon Public Broadcasting, Loosing Dark Skies 

More References

Night Skies (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Basin & Range Dark Sky Cooperative (brdarkskies.org)
email: Ashley_pipkin@nps.gov

The Best Dam Podcast is a Podcast Production of the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce.

Credits
This episode is sponsored by the  i & i Podcast & Music Studio. Be Heard. 
Music for the Best Dam Podcast was created by ZakharValaha from Pixabay.