Help    s  Preserve the Night 

U of U Projects

Here are a few projects that are happening on campus right now! This is exciting for us, because going into this subject, Ashley and I didn't know how much was being done to eradicate light pollution. Please read all about them and consider how you can make a difference in the fight against light pollution. 

Bettymaya Foott

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Bettymaya is currently a U of U student, graduating in May, with a SCIF (sustainable campus initiative fund) project regarding light pollution up in Fort Douglas. Her Honors Thesis is centered around the fatal attraction of nocturnally migrating birds to lights within cities. She applied for a SCIF grant through the Sustainability Resource Center on campus, and used the money to put in 3 new light fixtures that are dark sky compliant. One is shown in the image to the right, it is the one that is closest to the camera. These fixtures shine light directly to the ground to allow for maximum visibility and do not allow any light to shine upward. The problem now is actually legal, because according to state legislature there needs to be at least 3 different types of fixtures up in Fort Douglas, and they need to maintain the historical integrity as well. It took a long time for Bettymaya to find the first fixture, and we are betting that it will take just as long to find two more. Bettymaya is also working on signage for these fixtures, as a part of her SCIF grant. She was told that she may not be able to create the signage herself, but she may have the opportunity to do so. When we first met with her she asked if we would be willing to confer with her on the signage, but we have not gotten word of whether she is allowed to decide what will be presented or not. We will keep you updated as her project progresses and hopefully expands across campus! 

Mr. Bill Leach- Lighting Facilities Management

​  Bill Leach is the Lighting Facilities manager here on campus. We were referred to him by Bettymaya Foott with the promise that he had a map of every single light fixture on campus, and he did not fail to deliver! When we met for the first time, he showed us this sacred map and then told us the most wonderful news! The University of Utah passed a new regulation in the summer of 2014 that stated that every new light fixture added to the campus had to be Night Sky Compliant, and also they must contain LED bulbs! This was fairly surprising to Ashley and I, because we had no idea that such moves were being made against light pollution on campus.  He also told us that he would have a more updated map in a few weeks and that we could have our very own copy (which is now in our possession and pictured to the right). Now, we can see which fixtures are night sky compliant/friendly and we are pleased to say that all of the fixtures from the bottom of President's circle to commonwealth Ave are night sky compliant, as well as most lights on Hyper highway and the lights in front of the new Student Life Center and Honors building. That is, all of the fixtures excluding the parking lots, which brings us to the bad news. Lighting Facilities Management (so Bill) does not have any jurisdiction over the parking lot lights, because Commuter Services makes a profit from them, so he said that in order to figure out what is happening there, we needed to contact them. Bill has been very helpful on our journey this semester, and we are thankful for all of his help! 

Transitional Fixture

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This isn't exactly a project that is going on right at this moment, but it is one that we feel needs to be put out in the open to start "fueling the fire," so to speak. We are hoping that someone may see this and want to take on the project as their own. We were hoping that someone could take on the task of designing a transitional fixture for the globe lights seen in parking lots and on campus. These fixtures are by far the worst offenders and who knows how long it will take to replace them. Bill says that the ones on campus that are not in the parking lots will be replaced if the proper funding is supplied, so we are not so convinced that it is going to happen within the year. That is one of the reasons we created this site, so that people will become more educated and will want to get involved to make a difference. We were thinking that there could even be some kind of design contest because the fixture would have to be aesthetically pleasing as well as functional. We met with a mechanical engineering student who suggested that we use aluminum as the metal, just because it conducts heat well (so it doesn't overheat) and it is also resistant to corrosion, so it should last for a while. He also threw in that aluminum is cheap, which is always a plus when you're pitching an idea to a potential investor! So, we are hoping that once we get the word out about this project, that someone will be eager to take it on and get the design process rolling!