Sophisticated Stargazing Support Arrives at GBNP

There’s something magical about the night sky at Great Basin National Park. Far from the glow of city lights, the stars shine with a brilliance that few places in the country can match. This summer, that celestial wonder is getting a new ambassador. We’re excited to welcome our newest astronomy intern - brought on board through the support of Great Basin National Park Foundation - who will help expand and enrich Great Basin National Park's amazing astronomy programs.

With a passion for space and a dedication to sharing science with others, Amanda Peake will play a vital role in helping visitors connect with the cosmos. From guiding telescope viewings to assisting with dark sky education and outreach, Amanda will help inspire awe and curiosity under some of the darkest skies in America.

Welcome Amanda Peake!

Amanda is pursuing her PhD in Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology this fall, with a concentration in Astrophysics. 

Amanda grew up in North Carolina, but spent her summers with family in Montana where she fell in love with the stars in the dark skies of western Montana. She has been involved in science education at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, a former NASA facility in the mountains of North Carolina, where she led night sky tours and was a counselor for high school astronomy camps. She also participated in internships at NASA, both at headquarters in Washington D.C. in the Planetary Defense Coordination Office, and at the Meteoroid Environment Office in Huntsville where she worked on a project to identify interstellar meteoroids. 

She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Wake Forest University, where she conducted research on quantum field theory in black holes. She spent a semester abroad in Chile, where she experienced the night skies in the Atacama Desert and traveled through Patagonia, and a semester abroad in Scotland where she studied astrophysics at the University of St. Andrews. She also worked on an astrophysics research project in Spain at the University of Valencia regarding Hawking Radiation, and in Norway where she undertook a project on the magnetohydrodynamics of the Northern Lights. 

Amanda is particularly interested in science outreach, and she loves to share her excitement about space with others. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading, baking, and watching space documentaries with her cat, Schrodinger.