Meet our Team

Julieann Burroughs

President, Friends of the Hocking Hills

Julieann is the president of the Friends of the Hocking Hills and owner of Hocking Hills Canopy Tours. She has campaigned for the John Glenn Astronomy Park for many years, and has an extraordinary talent for media relations and administration.

Clyde Gosnell and Omie Warner

Fund Raisers, Planning

Retired architect Clyde Gosnell has devoted himself, full time, to fund-raising for the John Glenn Astronomy Park. It was Clyde who shared the plan for an observatory and observing park in the Hocking Hills with John Glenn and his family. Clyde has also worked closely with Lucia Hoehne in bringing the architectural aspects of the project to life.
Working alongside him is his wife, Omie Warner. Omie is a former anesthesiologist at Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, She is the founder of the Stratford Ecological Center near Delaware, Ohio.
Due mainly to their hard work and dedication, the Friends of the Hocking Hills has raised over $1.2 million dollars to date.

Brad and Lucia Hoehne

Amateur Astronomer, Director JGAp / Drafting, Construction and design

Brad Hoehne has been an amateur astronomer for over 30 years. As a member of the Columbus Astronomical Society, he has been active in public outreach at programs with the CAS, of which he has been president, and at Ohio Wesleyan University's Perkins Observatory. He has given countless lectures and written hundreds of articles on Astronomical topics. Brad created the original plan of what came to be JGAP in 2003.

Brad's Wife, Lucia Hoehne, worked at M+A Architects in Columbus, Ohio. She took the concepts for the JGAP, and turned them into a working project serving as project manger for the construction phase of the park.

Eric Hoffman

The one person whom JGAP truly could not have functioned without these past few years has been our “facility manager” Eric Hoffman. Eric is a long-time member of the board of the Friends of the Hocking Hills State Park, and has greeted almost all the visitors to our programs at the FHHSP table, usually with our friend Greg Handlin at his side. Eric also does a great deal of “behind the scenes” work to help keep things running smoothly.

You’ll often find him at the merch table at the entrance where he loves meeting and greeting the folks who come to our programs.

Featured Volunteers

Wanda Schwalle

Our most dedicated volunteer in 2019 was Wanda, who lives near the Hocking Hills State Park, Wanda came to JGAP with a passion for astronomy and a willingness to learn. Staring as an “astronomical beginner” Wanda quickly became adept at pointing the telescope she has “adopted” at JGAP, our 12-inch grey-tube Dobsonian, and is now regularly showing folks the night sky or selling swag at our merch table.

Janet and Phil Dixon

On many program night as you enter JGAP you’ll likely encounter Janet Dixon, who tells you where to place your car.

While doing the parking is not the most glamorous position (though Janet, in her astronaut outfit which she often wears makes it so) it is vitally important and critical part of our programs. Thank you Janet!

Her husband Phil is often found in our plaza showing people the sky through his telescope.

Mike and Christine Walsh

With Mike and Christine, you get two for one! Mike and Christine have been coming to JGAP since not long after we first started doing programs on-site. Christine helps out with parking and greeting folks as they arrive for our programs while Mike shares the sky through his own telescope, adorned with Stickers from David Bowie and Pink Floyd. Mike and Christine were our “Volunteers of the Year” for 2018.

Andy Downey

On more clear nights than not, you’ll find Andy hanging out in JGAP’s plaza capturing photons from distant celestial objects. At the same time, Andy is always willing to explain JGAP and all things celestial to visitors. He also provides coffee for many of the volunteers and visitors and enjoys blasting a space-related tune or twenty before the program starts.

Andy’s astrophotography can be seen in our annual JGAP calendar, which goes on sale in October of each year and lasts until the print run runs out.

Alex Mullins and Joe Renzetti

JGAP is more than just a place, it is, we hope, a social media outlet. To help share the wonders of the universe with you, we need pictures. The best sort of pictures are those that we make here in Ohio.

Frequent Volunteers at JGAP Alex Mullins and Joe Renzetti have, more than anyone else, kept JGAP supplied with a steady stream of astonishing original astronomical images that you may have seen on our Facebook page, our Instagram Feed or at our public programs.

Alex lives in Delaware, Ohio, and operates Deep Sky Ohio, an outlet for his astronomical imagery:

https://www.facebook.com/DeepSkyOhio/

Joe lives in Westerville, Ohio and is an exceptionally prolific and talented astro-imager. Joe has used JGAP’s 14-inch “Instagram” telescope (which he, himself, arranged for our our purchase of) several times to produce some of the images you have seen.

More of his work (including images taken at JGAP) can be seen here:

http://www.joerenzetti.com/

Joe Renzetti and JGAP’s C-14 “Instagram” Telescope