New LOFAR guides complete training course

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On Saturday 20 April near the LOFAR telescope in Exloo, after two months of training, seventeen volunteers became official tour guides to the LOFAR core area. The mayor of Exloo, Marco Out, handed the LOFAR guides their certificates after they gave their first official tour through the LOFAR core and the associated nature preserve.

The training was set up by a group called the LofarTafel (a group of entrepreneurs in Exloo promoting LOFAR in the region), and by the foundation Het Drentse Landschap (the organisation for nature and landscape preservation in Drenthe), and is supported by ASTRON.

These organisations, but also local entrepreneurs, regularly receive questions from tourists and visitors in the area whether tours at the LOFAR telescope are possible. This gave rise to the idea for a course in which volunteers can be trained to do presentations and tours about the LOFAR telescope and the surrounding nature area.

The LofarTafel started the course in the beginning of this year. ASTRON supports the initiative by informing the guides about the LOFAR telescope and all its facets, and helping them with questions and materials such as photos and presentations.

The volunteers are trained to serve a broad audience consisting mainly of tourists and passersby in the area. The LofarTafel ( http://www.lofarzone.nl ) is coordinator of the project and organizes the visits to the telescope, together with ASTRON.