Planetarium Presenters
Mark Breen
Mark Breen is the director of the Lyman Spitzer Jr. Planetarium at the Fairbanks Museum. He has been presenting, producing, and creating shows in Vermont’s only public planetarium for more than 35 years. He is particularly fascinated with visual astronomy and archeo-astronomy. One of his most vivid memories was viewing Saturn through a small, backyard telescope, and more recently exploring ancient astronomy sites in Ireland. His Eye on the Night Sky broadcasts are featured weekdays on Vermont Public Radio.
Christian Bradley Hubbs
Christian Bradley Hubbs began interning at the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium in 2015 while still in high school. He has worked as a presenter and educator in the Lyman Spitzer Jr. Planearium since 2018. Awed by space exploration and natural science at an early age, he always enjoyed school field trips to the local science museum and seeks to inpsire the same awe and curiosity in others. He works to inform and engage visitors about astronomy and space exploration, with updates in his shows about NASA and other space programs.
Dr. Paul Benoit
Dr. Paul Benoit has degrees in geological sciences from Virginia Tech and from Lehigh University and worked as a professor of chemistry at the University of Arkansas. He was a researcher working on meteorites and lunar samples, with a focus on radiation exposure. His work was in collaboration with Johnson Space Center and he also assisted in experiments on NASA’s microgravity program, known as the “vomit comet” and simulations of processes in martian soil. He was a member of the 1998 Antarctic search for meteorites (ANSMET) expedition, which added new meteorite samples to NASA and Smithsonian collection. In his spare time, he likes to cook and bake, and he is involved with local art and youth education organizations. .
Mariama Jones
Mariama (Ama) Jones was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and is currently serving as an
AmeriCorps volunteer for the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium. She holds a B.A. in
Environmental Policy and Anthropology, a J.D. and a Masters in Environmental law and policy.
Ama loves the environment, conservation and anthropology; and her love of anthropology and
ancient cultures led her to archeoastronomy. She is fascinated with how people around the
world view the stars and the stories that go along with those interpretations. In her
planetarium show she explores the star stories of different cultures around the world.