Who we are
The mission of DarkSky International is to restore the nighttime environment and protect communities and wildlife from light pollution. We are the San Diego County chapter of DarkSky, and we support this mission, with a focus on community outreach, education, and the sharing of information and advice to our local residents and governments. We welcome committed individuals and volunteers to join us in our efforts!
Cathy Handzel
Chapter President, Dark Sky San Diego County
Cathy has always loved the experience of night-time and gazing up at the moon and stars in the sky. She began researching light pollution after noticing excessive light trespass at her home from streetlights and neighbor’s lighting. Cathy is a graduate of the Mid-City CAN Leadership Academy and works in Information Technology as a Business Systems Analyst. She thoroughly enjoys being immersed with like-minded, dark sky advocates at the annual DarkSky conferences and stays abreast of light pollution research and advocacy by reading the monthly Nightwatch newsletter and attending Advocate workshops. As a breast cancer survivor, Cathy is committed to raising awareness about light pollution and its potential effects on human health.
Paul K. Ericson, PE, IALD
Vice President and Budget Manager, Dark Sky San Diego County
Design Principal, Electrical, Stantec Consulting Services Inc.
Paul has over 40years of continuous involvement in the consulting engineering profession with broad design experience and a special interest in lighting design. Paul is responsible for project management including overall concept designs, specifications, and supervision of design personnel.
He is actively involved with the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) at the Society level and has received lighting design awards from the IES. He currently chairs the Society’s Computer Committee.
He is a member of DarkSky International and a past member of their Board of Directors. As former Chair of DarkSky San Diego County, he helped Borrego Springs achieve their Dark Sky Community designation, and worked with the Julian Dark Sky Network to help the Julian community achieve their Dark Sky Community designation as well.
Doug Sollosy
Board Member, Dark Sky San Diego County
Chapter Liason to the Julian Dark Sky Network
Doug Sollosy is an amateur astronomer, who, along with Bill Carter, Kaleigh Kalthenhauer and Todd Rogelstad, founded the Julian Dark Sky Network in 2016. His journey began at the age of twelve, when he went to sixth grade camp on Mount Palomar, saw the Milky Way for the first time, the Palomar Observatory, and immediately got hooked for life on astronomy! He worked in Miami and San Diego as an adult education teacher for 25 years, retiring in 2011. Doug became a Julian resident in 2013. He’s been a member of DarkSky since 2016.
Mary Watkins
Board Member, Dark Sky San Diego County
Chapter Liaison to the Borrego Springs Dark Sky Coalition
Mary has been looking at the stars since she was a youngster growing up in Alpine and used to sleep outside in the summers. Mary joined the Borrego Dark Sky Coalition to help further the education of people concerning light pollution. Mary is a real estate broker in Borrego Springs in addition to helping with the Dark Sky San Diego and Borrego Dark Sky Coalition improve the real estate disclosures for San Diego county to include the Dark Sky areas and links to the county lighting ordinances. Mary wants to continue being able to see the stars and help educate people to understand the need to cut down the light use of unnecessary lights that add to the light pollution. Ambient light that comes from more populated areas and reaches the remote darker sky areas as well as non shielded flood lights, spot lights lighting up trees, light trespass from neighboring properties that are not aware of the Dark Sky areas have lighting ordinances. Mary lived in Van Nuys during the Northridge Earthquake in 1994, they had no power for several days. Mary heard stories of people seeing the Milky Way in the days after the earthquake when the power was out and these people didn’t know what it was since it was not visible with all the light pollution before that power was out for days. That was eye opening!
Betsy Knaak
Board Member, Dark Sky San Diego County
Betsy Knaak is the Executive Director of the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association. She is a charter member and current chairperson of the Borrego Springs Dark Sky Coalition. She served as Honorary Mayor in 2009, the year Borrego Springs was designated the world’s second IDA International Dark Sky Community and the first, and still only, Dark Sky Community in California.