Jackie grew up exploring the forests and alpine lakes of Montana and Idaho, where her parents’ work with the Forest Service sparked a lifelong love for public lands. While they focused on the earth around us, Jackie looked to the stars—earning a degree in physics and leading NASA outreach programs to bring hands-on astronomy education to rural communities. She has over six years of experience sharing the night sky with the public and is passionate about protecting dark skies for future generations.
Certifications
- B.S Physics Astrophysics Emphasis & Applied Mathematics minor | Boise State University
- Leave No Trace Certification
- Wilderness First Aid & CPR
- ServSafe Food Handling Certification
More Adventures
Jackie's Favorite Safari Tours
Bio
Jackie Westman grew up in rural Montana and Idaho where she spent her time exploring the Sawtooth National Recreational Area, the Bitterroot National Forest, and the scenic byway that connects them. Hiking was never quite her style – instead, you could find her spending all day swimming in alpine lakes such as Redfish or Lake Como with her siblings (no, not that one! The one near Darby, MT), identifying wildflowers, and enjoying precarious mountain backroads in her dad’s old silver Tacoma. Thanks to her mom and dad, a Forest Service District Ranger and Fire Management Officer, respectively, she was immersed in our public lands from a young age and taught that they belong to each and every one of us, something that has carried through into her career goals in a unique way.
While her parents dedicated their careers to the national forests, Jackie has always been most interested in what lies above us; living in such remote areas afforded her some of the best stargazing the world has to offer, which instilled a deep passion to research, preserve, and protect dark skies for future generations to enjoy. She studied physics and astronomy at Boise State University and during her undergraduate career worked for NASA as the team lead for AstroTAC (Astronomers in Training Assisting the Community), the public outreach branch of Dr. Brian Jackon’s Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve STEM Network (CIDSRSN), a NASA Science Activation program. Through this position she provided access to NASA educational material to rural and remote communities and created over 30 lesson plans that were taught via hands-on activities and a mobile planetarium. Throughout her degree she also worked at three different observatories performing outreach for the public, including Blue Mountain Observatory in Missoula, MT, Bruneau Dunes State Park Observatory in Bruneau, ID, and Boise State’s own 16-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.
In total, Jackie has over six years of experience teaching astronomy to the general public and has also spent time at Wisconsin’s IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center (WIPAC) conducting neutrino research through the University of Wisconsin – Madison, supported by the National Science Foundation’s REU program. The most fulfilling part of her work is when people experience that “wow” feeling looking through a telescope – whether it be Saturn, a spiral galaxy, or a star cluster – and sharing in that awe of the night sky. Having grown up and worked in the Sawtooths, the first International Dark Sky Reserve in the United States, and now living in the world’s first county certified as an International Dark Sky Community, she is dedicated to supporting DarkSky International’s efforts and hopes to become involved in Jackon’s goal of having 100% dark sky compliance by 2030. When she’s not looking up you can find her pulling the engine out of her 1996 Miata, riding her bike, or attempting long distance running at high
altitude.
