Stardome Announces New Board Appointments

12 December 2014

Stardome Announces New Board Appointments

Stardome Observatory and Planetarium is pleased to announce three new trustees to be appointed to the Auckland Observatory and Planetarium Trust board.

Sarah Stuart, Conor Roberts and Diana Patchett are set to join the Stardome board due to member retirement and rotation.

“We are looking forward to working with Sarah, Conor and Diana once they join our Board.” said Stardome Chair Geoff Mason. “Their collective experience in education, communication and strategic governance will be a great addition to the Stardome board.

“We would like to acknowledge the contribution of Ross Sharp, Jeanette Paine and Margaret Arthur who have been valued members of the Stardome board for several years. Their commitment to the organisation has been immensely appreciated and they leave behind a strong legacy.”

Sarah is a long time media specialist who recently completed an MBA at the University of Auckland focusing on strategic communications, crisis and digital media. She writes a twice-weekly column for the New Zealand Herald and works with some of the country’s large corporates and SMEs on crisis, stakeholder, content and communications management.

Sarah’s experience includes Editor of New Zealand’s best read magazine, the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, and an extensive career in newspapers including a recent role as Managing Editor of APN’s seven regional daily and 34 community newspapers.

Conor Roberts has a background in public affairs and communications in both the public and private sectors. He is currently Head of Public Affairs at Spark New Zealand after working for Todd Property Group. Prior to that, Conor served as Chief Political Advisor and Campaign Manager for the Mayor of Auckland during the establishment years of the Auckland Council.

He has strong relationships across central and local government, industry and community groups and with the media, and has experience in using innovative communications to promote and support the activities of the entities he is involved with.

Diana Patchett brings to the board extensive experience as an educator and has held senior roles at schools in Australia and New Zealand. Since 2013 she has been Principal of Kristin Junior School. She has a Masters of Educational Studies, University of Queensland (2010), a Post Graduate Diploma of Education, University of New England (1996) and a Bachelor of Science (Cell Biology, Zoology), University of British Columbia (1987).

Diana has had numerous professional works published internationally and delivered conference presentations on science and values education. Diana's research and practice in education has been recognised with a number of national awards, fellowships and grants.

About Stardome
Stardome and its team have been sharing a love of space from its premises in Auckland’s One Tree Hill Domain since 1967.

A place of exploration, research and sharing of knowledge the Stardome 360-degree planetarium Night Sky shows take viewers into outer space to get a closer view of stars, planets and nebulae. Stardome night planetarium shows also include telescope viewings (weather permitting). School children across Auckland enjoy daytime visits for school trips.

ENDS

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