Meet our Board of Directors
The Library Telescope Program is supported by Board of Directors that are unpaid volunteers.
About Us
Our Board of Directors
The Library Telescope Program is supported by a Board of Directors that are unpaid volunteers. The duties of the Board of Directors are to establish the general policies of the program and to manage the property, business, and affairs of the program. Each Director may serve a maximum of two (2) consecutive full terms.
Don Ficken, President
Don joined the St. Louis Astronomical Society in 2008 to pursue his lifelong passion for astronomy. As a devoted member of the Society, he spearheaded the launch of the St. Louis metro area library telescope program in 2014. This has become one of the largest metro programs in the world, supported by four St. Louis area amateur astronomy clubs and featuring over 230 telescopes and 140 binoculars. In 2020, he launched the LibraryTelescope.org website and, in collaboration with Tom Lynch, LTP Facebook Manager, began hosting monthly task force meetings to share across best practices across the globe.
Michelle Nichols-Yehling, Vice-President
Michelle is the Director of Public Observing and Director of the Doane Observatory at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, IL. With over 30 years of experience in museums and planetariums as an astronomer and educator, she leads all of the Adler Planetarium's telescope, observatory, and public sky observing initiatives and events.
Jerelyn Ramirez, Secretary
Jerelyn is a member of the Kansas Astronomical Observers (KAO) based out of Wichita, KS. She served as Treasurer for the club from 2006 through 2009, then as President from 2018 through 2021. In 2019, she began actively placing telescopes with libraries in the state of Kansas. Kansas now has 36 modified telescopes and 23 binocular kits supported by KAO at 15 library systems. She enjoys traveling and presenting astronomy educational outreach to the public in underserved and rural areas.
Pat Rohrkaste, Treasurer
Pat retired from UHY LLP CPAs as a partner and from UHY Advisors as a managing director on December 31, 2022. Pat has over 42 years of experience in public accounting with a specialty in auditing, financial and tax reporting for Not-for-Profit (NFP) organizations. Pat helps NPFs with financial reporting and clearly defined metrics to empower NFPs to appeal to donors and funders. Pat was UHY LLP’s national leader of NFP services and Pat was a quality peer reviewer for the AICPA. Pat has served on many NFPs, including Annie’s Hope, the Bereavement Center for Children and Hope Creates (a Missouri Nonprofit providing programs to young adults in recovery).
Marc Stowbridge, Director
Marc is a valued member of the New Hampshire Astronomical Society and widely regarded as the visionary behind the library telescope checkout program. By experimenting and refining his ideas, he developed a concept that has remained highly successful and largely unchanged since its introduction to New Hampshire libraries in late 2008. He continues to be involved with ongoing public outreach events involving science education and solar observing. Marc is a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador.
