Marc Wetzel Retires as Observatory’s Senior Outreach Co-Ordinator for K-12 Programs

January 25, 2021 

After 31 years working in public outreach at McDonald Observatory, Marc Wetzel is retiring to pursue other interests at the end of this month.

“It has been an outright honor and privilege to grow at McDonald Observatory.” Wetzel said. He stressed that the education and outreach team’s “commitment to excellence is the reason McDonald Observatory has been and continues to be the gold-standard for astronomical research, K-12 education, teacher professional development, and public programs.”

McDonald Observatory education and outreach programs aim to increase awareness of the universe and encourage exploration. Marc Wetzel’s energy and enthusiasm in fulfilling this mission has influenced many programs at the Frank N. Bash Visitors Center during his three decades with McDonald. Among the most significant, he cited the growth of teacher workshops. During the summer, McDonald Observatory hosts a series of multi-day, immersion-style professional development workshops for K-12 educators. The workshops provide teachers a chance to meet astronomers, observe the night sky, and take astronomy and space science ideas and activities back to their classrooms.

Additionally, Wetzel was fundamental in developing Live From McDonald Observatory videoconference programs and has given scores of classroom presentations via remote connection, which have reached thousands of students all over the United States. These K-12 programs are generously underwritten through support from educational endowments, foundations, and individual donors, which enables the Observatory to offer them at little to no cost. 

Katie Kizziar, Assistant Director for Education and Outreach, shared that “Marc has built an amazing foundation for educational programs at McDonald Observatory and we expect that they will continue to shine long into the future.” Though this is a big change for the organization, she notes that “staff are confident and excited about the future of K-12 programs thanks to Marc’s leadership and guidance.”

Wetzel credited much of his success at McDonald to training he received from his mentors. “My work and efforts have always been to carry on the incredible legacy of Dr. Mary Kay Hemenway and the visionary leadership of Sandra Preston,” he said. Hemenway pioneered the K-12 teacher training program at McDonald that Wetzel ultimately led, and Preston oversaw all of the observatory’s wide-ranging outreach efforts for 38 years, retiring in 2016.

In his own retirement, Wetzel plans to begin a second career. He is relocating to Washington state to study nursing, saying “I want to move my scientific exploration and passion from space down to Earth.”