KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – With hot weather forecast for this weekend climate change will be on the minds of many.

Join the Taylor Observatory at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 23, in the air-conditioned observatory classroom to hear local climate change-global warming expert Shelly Ryan speak on “The Climate Project – Citizen Involvement.”

Her talk is the next event in Friends of Taylor Observatory’s Windows to the Universe lecture series.

While almost 80 percent of the US population believes that climate change will impact their lives, the facts on this topic benefit from careful analysis and interpretation, an area where Ryan has exceptional qualifications.

In 2012 Ryan studied directly with former Vice President Al Gore at his Climate Reality Project. Readers may recall that Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 2007 for his work on this topic.

Recently Ryan moved to Lake County after two years in Costa Rica, where she taught climate change, sustainability and recycling in various settings throughout the semi-rural highlands of that country.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in restoration ecology from UC Santa Cruz and a master’s degree in museum science from John F. Kennedy University in Berkeley.

Among Ryan’s speaking invitations are those from Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, the California Academy of Sciences, Chabot Science Center in Oakland CA and San Diego’s Wild Animal Park.

As a companion to Ms. Ryan’s talk the full-dome planetarium show “Dynamic Earth” will be shown as part of the program, hosted by Eduardo Alatorre and David Velasquez, and star and moon gazing will follow on the newly constructed Nieman Star Deck at Taylor.

Views of Jupiter and its moons may be excellent through our newly-configured planetary scope. The new Teeter 18-inch Dobsonian will be trained on several deep sky objects and at least one scope will provide detail lunar views along the moon’s terminator. The moon and Jupiter are beautifully placed 3 degrees apart high in the Southern Sky on Saturday evening. Later, Saturn may just peek over Mount Konocti.

Prior to Ryan’s climate change talk, Friends of Taylor’s President Bill Haddon will briefly discuss this summer’s pending Mars spectacular, possibly accompanied by a very bad Mars astronomy joke that some of you may not have heard.

Admission to the 8 to 11 p.m. Window to the Universe program is $5 for adults, free for Lake County K-12 students and Taylor members. Donations to STEM Education for Lake county students are always welcomed.

Taylor Observatory is located down a gravel road at the far end of Oak Hills Lane in Kelseyville.

Further information will be available at 707-262-4121 and on the Friends of Taylor Facebook page.

Taylor Observatory is owned and operated by the Lake County Office of Education.