By Sama Allam

As an eighth grader, Morgan’s interest in Earth Science led to her later interest as a freshman in astronomy. She attended a summer astronomy camp at NAU, which furthered her interest in astronomy. From then on, she started volunteering at the East Valley Astronomy Club and is currently the youngest volunteer there by a couple of decades.

At the East Valley Astronomy club, Morgan plays the role of Certified Operator, just a fancy way of saying she gets to handle the giant expensive telescopes. While handling those telescopes may sound out of this world, the job comes with many responsibilities.

Talking to up to 250 people a night, Morgan maps the night sky and explains to spectators what they are looking at, as well as pointing out objects of interest amongst the stars.

Despite how daunting the job may seem, Morgan finds some highlights of being part of the club: “It’s a great experience, the people there are very friendly,” and even better, her co-volunteers will “give me telescopes whenever they don’t want them.”

Along with learning about the stars in the sky, Morgan mentions the other benefits that volunteering brings: “It makes me more excited to present research and really want to reach out to the public about science and other fields in that area.”

Getting involved in the community has helped Morgan Cryder expand her knowledge of the stars as well as the sciences. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone else that’s as passionate about astronomy as Morgan.