Welcome to the Texas Chapter of DarkSky International
Meet the Board members
The Texas Chapter of DarkSky International seeks to protect the “Stars at Night” that are “big and bright …. deep in the heart of Texas.” That heritage of star-filled night skies has been taken away from us in many parts of our great state.
Our members are a volunteer educational group working to engage citizens and public officials to keep our rural night skies naturally dark and full of stars, and to help Texans reduce light pollution in our cities and towns. With our work we aim to make lasting changes in the way we all think of outdoor lighting across the state.
Art Schneider
Panhandle Regional Manager
Art Schneider served as the Director of Renewable Energy at Amarillo College. He was the Project Investigator for the NSF (National Science Foundation) Solar Energy Technician grant which spanned a term of 3 years. He has completed 5 other NSF grants at Amarillo College and serves as adjunct faculty in the Physical Sciences Department.
Professor Schneider received his B.S. in Astro-Sciences from the University of Texas Pan American, Edinburg, Texas and his M.S. in Science Education from Western Connecticut University, Danbury Connecticut.
He has served as Department Chair of Physical Sciences and the Division Chair of Sciences & Engineering at Amarillo College where he has taught for 36 years. He was bestowed Professor Emeritus status in 2009. After a long career in education he continues to consult and provide Astronomy and science outreach to children and adults in the Texas Panhandle.
During his spare time, he has served as an Astronomy Ranger Assistant at The Badlands National Park, Astronomy Volunteer at Capulin Volcano National Monument and has led star parties at Palo Duro Canyon, Caprock Canyon State Parks in the Texas Panhandle as well State Parks in New Mexico. He also maintains his volunteer status for the 3 Rivers Foundation in Crowell, Texas and works with many other astronomy observers at the Comanche Springs Astronomy Campus of 3RF, near Crowell. Most recently Art volunteered to be the IDA Texas Panhandle Regional Manager and is working with both Caprock Canyon and Palo Duro Canyon state parks in obtaining their “dark sky status.”
Cindy Luongo Cassidy
DarkSky Texas President of the Board
Cindy Luongo Cassidy is a leader within DarkSky Texas, a founding member of the multiple Hill Country Night Sky groups, and President of the Board for the Hays County Friends of the Night Sky, and is a Texas Master Naturalist (Hays Co Chapter). She was the key player in positioning the City of Dripping Springs to receive the prestigious International Dark Sky Community designation, the first in Texas, and has assisted with many other International Dark Sky Place applications.
In 2019, Cindy was awarded the Crawford-Hunter Award, the highest honor that the International Dark-Sky Association bestows to individuals who, in the course of their lifetime, have contributed an extraordinary effort to light pollution abatement. Cassidy lives in Driftwood, Texas and was the creator of the hugely successful Texas Night Sky Festival®.
D'nese Fly
Western Central Outreach Coordinator
D’nese Fly is an Outreach Coordinator with DarkSky Texas and since 2017 has been involved in educational outreach in the Texas Hill Country, at both Garner State Park and the Lost Maples State Natural Area. She enjoys sharing her knowledge with others, helping them see what is happening around them, in nature and in the naturally dark skies of the area.
D’nese, a retired petroleum geologist, holds a degree in geological sciences from the University of Texas at Austin. She and husband Chip currently reside in Utopia, Texas, where she serves on several boards and participates in numerous community programs.
Frank Cronin
DarkSky Texas Secretary of the Board
Frank Cronin has tutored and taught in Developmental Education at Austin Community College (ACC) since 1987. In his academic career he has served on the board for Teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Central Texas Chapter from 1996 to 2004 as member at large and secretary. From 2010 to 2012 he was secretary for The Texas Association of Developmental Education. He became interested in DarkSky International due to his interest in Astronomy. During the 2021 and 2022 ACC Earth Week Programs Frank presented “Darkness at the End of the Tunnel: Solutions to Light Pollution.” Frank retired from ACC at the end of 2022 and looks forward to being more involved in DarkSky Texas.
Gordon Meredith
DarkSky Texas Treasurer &
North Texas Regional Manager
Gordon Meredith has lived in Denton, Texas since before anybody in Denton had ever heard of John F. Kennedy or the Beatles. He grew up enjoying the night skies of North Central Texas back when the lights of Dallas were a tiny green smudge on the horizon. In his misspent youth he took up mountaineering and cycling and discovered the really dark skies of Wyoming.
Along the way, Gordon earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of North Texas, married his wife Valerie, and together they raised their daughter Gwendŵr. He has worked in the Community Development Division of the City of Denton for over 25 years with a focus on green building. Having been a DarkSky member for over ten years, he has worked to educate others in good lighting, and to preserve those areas in the Southwest where dark skies still exist.
Karen McGraw, Ed.D.
North Texas Outreach Coordinator
Dr. Karen McGraw is a North Texas Regional Outreach Coordinator for DarkSky Texas, a DarkSky International Advocate, and a Texas Master Naturalist (Elm Fork Chapter). Karen is passionate about the reduction of light pollution to conserve dark skies for humans and wildlife. Since 2016, she has been involved in dark skies outreach and education for community, region, and state-wide events. She enjoys educating people and changing mindsets through community presentations, conference presentations, and hosting booths/tables at events.
Karen is a retired corporate consultant, business owner, adult educator, and researcher. She holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction and educational/cognitive psychology from Texas Tech University.
Laura Gold
Emeritus Member of the Board
Laura is a life-long night sky observer, a DarkSky International Advocate and Texas Master Naturalist (Tierra Grande Chapter) She is in West Texas working to preserve the impressive dark night skies through community education and outreach, in partnership with local governments, business, and the community at large. She attends events and meetings and with individuals requesting help with outdoor lighting issues. Trained in dark sky preservation at McDonald Observatory she was fortunate to work with experts and update the City of Alpine’s Outdoor Lighting Ordinance and the creation of the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve. She works with the Alpine Night Sky Team to help implement the City of Alpine outdoor lighting ordinance. She believes the night sky is a priceless natural resource that needs to be protected and preserved.
Liam Plybon
East Texas Outreach Coordinator
Liam Plybon is currently an honors chemistry teacher at Longview High School in Longview, Texas. Prior to his time in the academic system, Liam worked as an engineer at Astro-Physics Inc., designing and manufacturing astronomical equipment. When not working, Liam performs free astronomical outreach events in East Texas, showing the night sky to those who have never seen it before. Liam’s current research investigates super-resolution optics for amateur astronomers, and how color vision impairment may have affected early astronomers. Liam Plybon graduated with a degree in Physics from Texas A&M University, College Station in 2019, with a minor in Astrophysics and an award for commitment to service.
Marco Barros
Emeritus Member of the Board
Marco A. Barros is the former president/CEO of the San Antonio Area Tourism Council. He has been a resident of San Antonio for the past 32 years. He played an integral part in getting the World Heritage designation (UNESCO) for the San Antonio Missions and has worked with Bexar County on numerous projects assisting the county judge with the use of hotel tax for River Walk improvements and building 13 sports venues.
Marco spent several years working for American Airlines developing new marketing programs for several new Latin American routes and created tour packages for Gray Line Tours of San Antonio.
As a native of Chile, he attended the Catholic University in Santiago in foreign languages and he studied at the University of Texas at El Paso where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Journalism. Marco has traveled extensively in Latin America from Chile to Mexico and has assisted various businesses to set up operations in Argentina and Mexico. He managed Mexico Express for over 3 years as part of a marketing program based in San Antonio and Monterrey, Mexico.
As an Honorary Consul for the Government of Chile, a post to assist better business relations between Chile and Texas, Marco assists the Consul General of Chile based in Houston, Texas, on several programs.
He is often invited to speak to Convention Bureaus, Chambers of Commerce and economic development groups on the impact of the tourism in communities and how to use the Hotel Motel Tax. Past presentations have included the Corpus Christi Hotel Association, Rockport/Port Aransas Counties, the Austin CVB, the Rio Grande Valley Chambers as well as the Monterrey (Mexico) CVB, Tourism Board in Chile, Monroe/Detroit communities with National Parks Service and the Warsaw Destination Alliance and Hotel Association in Poland.
In 2011, he was the featured speaker in Monterrey, Mexico for a new State of Nuevo Leon Economic Development and in 2012 he was also invited by the Governor of Zacatecas to speak on Tourism Development to his Economic Team in Zacatecas, Mexico.
In January of 2015, he was elected Chairman of the San Antonio Airport Advisory Commission that advises the City of San Antonio on aviation issues. Barros is presently serving on many city boards and commissions, including assisting the San Antonio Police Department. He also served as Honorary Commander for the Texas Air National Guard based at Lackland AFB.
Philip Moon Walker
South Texas Regional Manager
Philip Walker is past President of the Ozona Chamber of Commerce in Ozona, Texas. He and his wife Laura reside in San Antonio. Philip’s background includes 13 years as a Tour Director leading folks through spectacular natural areas as well as leading the transformation of the family’s 7 Oaks Ranch near the Devils River in Crockett County, Texas. Philip’s introduction to dark skies came back in 1997 while living in Sedona, Arizona, an International Dark Sky Certified Community.
Philip currently works with Vanguard Renewables. His career as a Tour Director took him to many of the world’s important and well known protected natural areas in Alaska, Central America and the Western US. During breaks from months on the road he spearheaded a multi-year effort to improve range conditions on the family ranch through unique collaborations, prescribed fire, a volunteer program and grants that resulted in being honored with the TPWD Lone Star Land Steward Award. “Working with positive, conservation-minded individuals out on the land is something I find very rewarding.” In March of 2023 Philip was presented with the 2022 Friend of Conservation Award from the Crockett County Texas Soil & Water Conservation District. www.philipmoonwalker.com
Soll Sussman
Central Texas Regional Manager
Soll Sussman is a board member of Hays County Friends of the Night Sky and is a Hays County Master Naturalist.
He is Managing Director of S Cubed Studio, a consulting firm that specializes in developing cross-border ties and partnerships related to energy and the environment in the United States and Mexico.
Prior to that he spent 21 years at the Texas General Land Office working with a variety of energy marketing, renewable energy, alternative fuels and border energy programs.
Soll spent nearly a decade working outside the United States as an international correspondent for The Associated Press.
Susan Fisher
South Texas Outreach Coordinator
Susan is an energetic, dedicated advocate for better lighting to protect all living things.
Her full bio will be coming soon!
