The IYA is an excellent time for us to think about collaborating with amateur astronomers.
Advanced amateur astronomers, with their sophisticated array of CCD and other equipment, can make very valuable contributions to many projects of interest to professional astronomers. To raise awareness of such "Pro-Am" collaboration, I have made a mock-up of one of the existing CASCA Astronomy Education web pages, with a link to a further page about professional-amateur collaboration. Please see:
http://homepage.usask.ca/~ges125/EdCommittee/amaAstro_index.html
and click on the last starred item in the list there. The Pro-Am page mock-up is just a start and with some more work we will make it live. Please send me your comments for improvements and additions. One idea is to add a registry, similar to what the AAS intends to do, where both amateur and professional astronomers can add their name to a list. I think it should be more than a list. Professionals would give a relatively detailed description of their project, especially with details about the observations (or data analysis/mining) work needed from the volunteer amateur. Amateurs would provide a mini-CV with details about their observing (or other useful) capabilities and a list of past professional-amateur collaborations they have worked on.
I can be reached at: gordon.sarty@usask.ca
Gordon Sarty
Education and Public Outreach Committee