The SEPA Professional Development Fund was set up by SEPA Council and is funded by proceeds from the Silent Auction held at conferences, as well as from member and sponsor donations.

Each award covers the amount of registration and, if funds allow, a small stipend for travel or hotel stay. Recipients’ names will be sent to the conference host in order to assure that the conference registration fee will be covered by the Development Committee. If there is a stipend, it will be in the form of a check given to recipients at the end of the conference.

To apply for the SEPA Professional Development Fund, applicants must:

  • Be currently employed as a member of the planetarium staff at an active SEPA-region planetarium.
  • Be a full SEPA member, and not a vendor.
  • Present a paper or poster at the conference. The paper, or a write-up of the poster, must be presented to the editor of Southern Skies in order for it to appear in the fall edition of SEPA’s journal.
  • Meet deadlines for submitting this application form and, if selected, must also meet deadlines for conference registration and paper presentations.

Applicants should complete the SEPA Professional Development Application and submit it electronically, or mail it to:

David Dundee
SEPA President
Tellus Planetarium
Tellus Museum
Cartersville, Georgia 30120

Recipients of the award this year will not be eligible to receive the award next year.