Invited speakers for ALAN 2027
Fernando Avila was born in Nogales, Mexico. His bachelor and graduate studies were in physics, with a specialty in astrophysics. A big proponent of science outreach, Fernando Avila has done public talks, public astronomy observations, interviews and news articles for newspapers, magazines, radio,
and television, for over thirty years. With one of the highlights is having an chapter in the book ”The Right to Dark Skies” published by UNESCO.
Fernando is currently employed at the National Astronomical Observatory of the Astronomy Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. At the Observatory, he is in charge of the Dark Skies Law Office where he has put his outreach experience to educate about the issues of light pollution and how can it be reduced without compromising safety.
A big part of hiswork at the Dark Skies Law Office is working closely with the three levels of Mexican government, promoting laws and ordinances to reduce light pollution.
So far, he has been involved in creating or updating our municipal ordinances, four state laws, one federal law to include light pollution, and is currently working towards a national level technical specification on artificial light control.
Fernando Avila is also the Dark Sky International Mexico Chapter leader since 2013. In 2016, Dark Sky International gave Fernando a Dark Skies Defender Award and it’s currently serving in this organization’s Board of Directors since 2023. He is also part of IAUWorking Group 1: Light Pollution Standard.
Avalon Owens
Avalon Owens is a research fellow at the Rowland Institute at Harvard, where her group works to document the myriad ways in which artificial light at night affects nocturnal flora and fauna (mostly insects). Avalon has spent close to a decade studying how artificial light threatens fireflies and what “firefly friendly” lighting practices can best protect them. At the Rowland Institute, her group is currently investigating the ecological costs and evolutionary consequences of moth flight-to-light behavior. Moths that get stuck swirling around porch lights are not able to find mates or visit flowers—in this way, light pollution might threaten both our food systems and the future of life on earth. Visit owenslab.org to learn more about their ongoing projects.
Avalon received her Ph.D. in Biology from Tufts University in 2022. She also holds a B.A. in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University and an M.S. in Entomology from National Taiwan University. She is committed to turning scientific recommendations into real world results through public outreach and policy advocacy. As part of these efforts, she frequently collaborates both with DarkSky International and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
Sonal Asgotraa
Sonal Asgotraa
Manuel Spitschan
Professor of Chronobiology & Health / Max Planck Research Group Leader
Technical University of Munich & Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics
Manuel Spitschan is the Rudolf Mössbauer Assistant Professor of Chronobiology & Health at Technical University of Munich and Max Planck Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. After undergraduate studies in psychology at the University of St Andrews (2009-2012), he completed his PhD on melanopsin sensitivity in the human visual system at the University of Pennsylvania (2012-2016). Following a post-doc at Stanford University (2016-2017), he joined the University of Oxford on a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship, through which he collaborated with the Centre for Chronobiology in Basel (2017-2021). He is the current Speaker of the Steering Committee of the Daylight Academy, Chair of the Joint Technical Committee 20 of the CIE and past Chair of the Optica (formerly OSA) Color Technical Group.
Yana Yakushina
Research Fellow,
University of Ghent, Belgium
Yana Yakushina is a lawyer, researcher, and dark sky protection educator. She is actively involved in initiatives related to dark sky protection and space law.
Currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Ghent (Belgium) as part of the Horizon EU project – PLAN-B, Yana is actively shaping the legal framework for recognising light pollution as a critical environmental concern. Yana also serves as one of the scientific coordinators of the PLAN-B project. On the space law front, she serves as the Deputy Executive Director at the Space Court Foundation Inc., overseeing projects that regulate space activities globally, including the “Big Book of Space Law.”
Yana has successfully participated in international legal research projects in dark sky protection and space law, collaborating with organizations such as the EU Commission, DarkSky International, Starlight Foundation, International Astronomical Union, and UNOOSA, among others. Leading a research group within the IAU CPS Policy Hub, Yana analyzes national approaches to protecting dark and quiet skies.
Additionally, Yana is a member and advisor of various NGOs, including Dark-Sky International, Starlight Foundation, and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL). In 2023, she became a board member and co-founder of the Belgian dark sky protection organization – Living Night (IDA Chapter).
Kerem Asfuroglu
Founder of Dark Source
Wexford, Ireland
Local speaker:
Kerem Asfuroglu is the founder of Dark Source, an award-winning lighting design studio driven by environmental values based in the UK & Ireland.
Following his graduation from Wismar University – Architectural Lighting Design MA in 2010, Kerem worked in the lighting industry for almost a decade before setting up Dark Source in 2019. He has been awarded with the title of Dark Sky Defender by the IDA for advocating the importance of darkness through design.
Some of his environmental lighting projects include the Plas Y Brenin Outdoor Centre, Presteigne Dark Sky Community, Newport Dark Sky Masterplan, Cloughjordan Ecovillage and Cumbria TAN Dark Sky Planning Policy.