Derek Wallentinsen

Artist Statement

Derek Wallentinsen is an astronomer and naturalist. He grew up under dark skies in California and New Mexico, later receiving a MS degree in astrophysics from Wichita State University. After careers in teaching and industry, he joined the National Park Service as an astronomy ranger, preserving and interpreting dark skies. He helped several western parks become International Dark Sky Parks. A lifelong nature photographer, he is the author of Blue Skies, Red Sunsets and Company, a book about the beauty of sunlight and the air.