by Diane Turnshek Physics Department Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 CMU.edu dianeturnshek.com Founder and co-chair of the Dark Sky International Pittsburgh chapter (IDAPgh.org) and founder of the state chapter, DarkSkyPA.org
Carnegie Mellon University is a private, global research university with over 14,500 graduate and undergraduate students from over 100 countries. Pittsburgh is home to 300,000 people and has 3600 acres of parks, one that covers 456 acres is adjacent to the university. The Naked Eye Limiting Magnitude (NELM) is between 5.1 and 5.5, a bright suburban sky.
Dark Sky Ordinances were introduced in 2021, and 36,500 streetlights are slated to be changed to shielded 2700K LEDs in 2025 and 2026.
The Campus has a yearly walkabout to assess the lights and I have joined them the last two years (police, architects, lighting design people, staff, students, lawyer, dean of student life, etc.). I have shared the Campus Shine document and encouraged the assessment of the stadium lights with Dark Sky Advocates: Tillotson Design Associates, New York City, NY
The campus joined Lights Out, Pittsburgh! and has turned off 11 decorative installations from midnight to 6 am all year round, as outlined in the German documentary, “Lights Out! Stars On!”
I have given one OSHER Class (5 weeks, students aged 55 and up) on light pollution. In 2018, I held a 5-week Summer Academy of Math and Science program on light pollution with high school students from across the country and did a one-day activity in 2023. Steve Quick has taken over the Skyglow class we started together in 2019 – a free 10-week summer research opportunity for undergraduate students. I have guest-lectured in many classes (Drama, Physics, Futures, Social Science, Science Writing, Architecture, etc.) about light pollution. I was part of the Intersect@CMU Conference on campus in 2022 and the TEDxCMU Innovation panel in 2020 on light pollution.
The sustainability club is more engaged than the astronomy club. There is no longer an observatory on campus. In general, the astronomers (cosmologists) are not interested.
Since I also have a faculty appointment at the University of Pittsburgh (one mile away from the CMU campus), I have access to Allegheny Observatory, eight miles away in Riverview Park (259 acres). It is used to host monthly Dark Sky meetings, and it is a draw for any groups who want a tour (during which I talk about light pollution). I do about 20 tours for CMU groups a year.
Circulating my drone shot of the campus from above has caused people to notice how bright the campus is. Steve Quick and I received an $80K Dark Skies grant from Metro21 in 2017 to use drones, aircraft, satellites and astronaut photos to assess the lighting in Pittsburgh. I’ve been in the CMU news dozens of times.
Nighttime image of Carnegie Mellon University Campus and Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden taken by Mike Lincoln (previous head of DarkSky PA) with DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone.
