Staff awards
In
2001 the staff of the Planetarium were the recipients of a University award for
General Staff Excellence. Whilst no celebrations took place
for the thirty years of operation, this award was a reward for the hard work
and dedication put in by staff and volunteers of the Planetarium.
It has been an exciting 30 years for the Planetarium, a period in which discoveries have come thick and fast, challenging all presenters to keep up with the latest developments. It is certain that the next thirty years will bring many new discoveries.
In 1995 the then Vice Chancellor
of the University of South Australia, Professor David Robinson,
awarded a 'Special Commendation' of Vice Chancellor's Award for
Staff Excellence to Mrs Rita Mielnik, who was then the Secretary,
School of Surveying and managed the University's Planetarium
providing outstanding service to both internal and external
customers from 1991 until 1997.
Rita was a member of the Astronomy and Space Communicators of
Australia (ASCA) as well as a member of the International
Planetarium Society (IPS) and attended annual conferences to discuss
planetaria initiatives within Australia.
In 1995 she hosted the annual meeting of Space Communicators of Australia (ASCA) at the University with participants from:
- Parkes Observatory
- Sky and Space Magazine
- Launceston Planetarium
- Canberra Planetarium and Questacon
- Melbourne Planetarium
- Anglo-Australian Observatory
- Astronomical Society of South Australia (ASCA)
- Sydney Observatory, and
- Mt. Stromlo Observatory.