Protecting New Zealand's natural night skies // Nalayini Brito

With a master’s degree in astronomy, Nalayini is a committed advocate for Dark Skies and an enthusiastic astronomer who has maintained a home in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf islands for thirty years. She is a member of the Auckland Astronomical Society (AAS) and is the current chairperson of Astronz which was established by AAS to make astronomy more accessible to New Zealanders. She contributes articles, regular book reviews and astronomer interviews for the AAS Journal and writes monthly star- watching columns for the numerous local newspapers. Her work with Great Barrier Island’s night skies led to its nomination and subsequent accreditation as an IDA International Dark Sky Sanctuary. She works with a number of aspiring dark sky places in New Zealand and monitors night sky quality for two of New Zealand’s four IDA international dark sky places. Nalayini is the current Vice President of Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (RASNZ) which is the umbrella organisation for the 22 affiliated astronomical societies in New Zealand.