Northern Stars Planetarium is a fully equipped inflatable star theater that comes directly to your school. John Meader, the owner and educator, offers more than 25 different planetarium shows on various astronomical topics, earth and life sciences, as well as live storytelling. Shows are designed to match learning standards for grades pre-K through 8. Northern Stars has been bringing the stars to more than 15,000 Maine students each year since 1987. He also occasionally offers seasonal 4 week adult classes online through on Zoom.

Who is John Meader?

John began his planetarium career as a student operator in 1979 at the University of Maine's Jordan Planetarium. There, he quickly accepted the role as student director as he and his fellow student operators, increased the annual attendance from +/-800 to over 5,000 in the first year. In 1983 he became the Planetarium Director of the Francis Malcolm Science Center in Easton, Maine. He also taught Observational Astronomy classes at the University of Maine at Orono, the University of Maine at Presque Isle, Loring Air Force Base, and Kennebec Valley Community College. In 1987 John founded Northern Stars Planetarium. He became the first person to purchase a Starlab® portable planetarium with the intent of starting a business. In 1995 Northern Stars purchased the first ever Jumbo-Starlab®, large enough to hold 65 students.

In 2004 John, and his wife Laura, traveled to Brescia, Italy to participate in the International Planetarium Society’s American Planetarian in Italy program where John taught astronomy to Italian high school students for an exciting week of cross cultural planetarium lessons. In 2019, John and Laura hosted Ruth Grützbauch, a fellow portable planetarium operator from Vienna, Austria, as part of the International Planetarian in the United States program, returning the favor.

John is a Fellow of both the International Planetarium Society and the Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society. He is the Archivist/Historian of the Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society. He is a founding member of Dark Sky Maine, a non-profit that promotes Maine’s dark sky heritage through sensible lighting and education and served as Vice President and secretary for the first two years. He is on the board of the Friends of the L.C. Bates Museum in Hinckley, Maine and the Eagle Hill Institute’s Astronomy Center in Steuben, Maine. And John is also a Registered Maine Guide, an avid canoeist, and was an organizer for the annual Maine Canoe Symposium from 1995-2019. 

John has a passion for photography, shooting artful pieces which include the night sky, landscapes, wildlife, and portraits. His work can be viewed and purchased at john-meader.pixels.com.  He has shown his work in more than 20 photography shows and has been a staff photographer for the Maine International Film Festival and Waterville Creates since 2017. John’s latest creative endeavor has lead to a joint creative website called Welos Arts and Sciences with collaborator Shawn Burke where they will feature John’s photography, paintings, drawings, Shawn’s music, as well as some collaborations between John and Shawn and occasionally others. Born and raised in central Maine, John graduated from the University of Maine in 1982. He and his wife Laura live in Fairfield, Maine. John has three adult children.

John’s Planetarium Publications

2022 Self-Guided Winter Star Tour, a publication of the Appalachian Mountain Club.

2020 “A Perfect Match: Kindred spirits share the stars, education through professional development exchange,”
The Planetarian, Vol. 49, No. 1.

2019 “An International Planetarium Educator in the United States”, The Constellation, Winter 2019, No. 4.

2010 "Under One Dome: Northern Stars Planetarium", The Planetarian, Vol. 39, No. 2.

2007 The Moon Projection Cylinder and Curriculum Guide, Learning Technologies, Inc., Somerville, MA.

2006 "My First Visit to a Planetarium", The Planetarian, Vol. 35, No. 2.

2005 "An American Planetarian in Italy", The Planetarian, Vol. 34, No. 1.

2003 The Bird Migration Projection Cylinder and Curriculum Guide, Learning Technologies, Inc., Somerville, MA. 

1999-2008 "Old MAPS, A View from the MAPS Archives," The Constellation, A column devoted to the organization's history. 

1998 Carrying the Universe and Not Breaking Your Back, Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society.

1998 Storytelling in the Planetarium, Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society.

1997 "Starting a STARLAB Business: An Owner's Story of Success," Starlab News, Issue XVII, Spring, 1997.

1996 M.A.P.S. '95 Starlab Conference. With Rall, Vinski, Brown, Conod, & Reynolds. The Planetarian, Vol. 25, No. 1.

1995 Portable Planetarium Hardware Adaptations, Considerations, and Care, Proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society.

1995 "Moving Cloud Projector for Portables and Small Planetaria", The Constellation, Vol. 29, No. 4.

1993 "Story Telling in the Planetarium: Two Approaches", The Planetarian,Vol.22, No. 4.

1993 "Owning Your Own Planetarium", The Planetarian, Vol.22, No.3.

1989 "Yet Another Scale Model of the Solar System", The Planetarian, Vol.18, No.2.

1987 "Observing the Re-entry of a Japanese Rocket on August 12th, 1986. A Lesson in Observing", The Planetarian, Vol.16, No.2.

1987 "Forum Response: Starting Out in a Small One Person Planetarium", The Planetarian, Vol.16, No.1.

1986 "The Five-Minute Laser Show", The Planetarian, Vol.15, No.3.

1984-86 "Natural Views", A weekly column on astronomy and nature. Presque Isle Star Herald, Presque Isle, Maine.

Other Publications:

2022 Stargazer’s Atlas, National Geographic Society, photography on page 340.

2022 Green & Healthy Maine Summer Guide, Cover photography as well as photography within the article about astronomy in Maine.

2020-Ongoing Postcards From Gus, Online blog hosted by Sandbox Atlas, co-created with Cathy Jewitt and Benjamin Meader.

2020 Voices From the Coast, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, photography on page 35.

1988  Dell Turner, The Stories of His Life, Northeast Folklore XXVII, Maine Folklife Center, University of Maine, Orono.

Films & Video

2023 Place & Time: The North Shore. A short film about the north shore of Massachusetts, produced by John Meader and Shawn Burke, featuring Shawn’s audio recordings and John’s still photography. Premiered at the Maine International Film Festival, Waterville, Maine, 2023.

2022 Defending the Dark, Preserving the Night Sky, a film by Tara Roberts Zabriskie. John was a featured speaker within this film.

2022 Place & Time: Portland Maine. A short film about Portland, Maine, produced by John Meader and Shawn Burke, featuring Shawn’s audio recordings and John’s still photography. Premiered at the Maine International Film Festival, Waterville, Maine, 2022.

2021- Ongoing “3 Minutes with a Maine Guide” YouTube video series, produced with Lisa DeHart and Benjamin Meader.

2021 Perspectives. A short film about John’s photography show in 2017 with music written and performed by welos2, aka Shawn Burke.

1995  Babes in the Woods, Canoe Camping with Small Children Video. Award winner at 1997 Waterwalker Film Festival, honorable mention at the Natahala Film Festival, 1997.

Photography Shows:

2023 John Meader Photography, FrameMakers, Waterville, Maine.

2022-2023 Wilderness and Culture, a themed and curated group show presented online, L.C. Bates Museum, Hinckley, Maine.

2022 Retrospective—25 Years of MIFF Photography, at the Maine International Film Festival, a retrospective show featuring all staff MIFF photographers. Curated by John Meader, with photographs by Martin Aucoin, Holden Cookson, Patrick Groleau, Niko Hample, Deanne “Dede” Herman, John Meader, Lucas Pelotte, and Charles “Chuck” Robinson.

2021 Marks and Tracks, a themed and curated group show presented online, L.C. Bates Museum, Hinckley, Maine.

2017-2022 John Meader Photography, The Record Connection, Waterville, Maine.

2016-2022 John Meader Photography, Riverside Cafe, Oakland, Maine.

2020 Heatwave Getaway, Selah Tea/FrameMakers, Waterville, Maine.

2020 Maine Waters and its Inhabitants, a themed group show presented online, L.C. Bates Museum, Hinkley, Maine.

2019 A Well-Tempered Lens, a joint show with Julie Searles and Raul Sirén, Central Maine Artist’s Gallery, Skowhegan, Maine.

2019 Maine Open Juried Art Show, Common Street Arts, Waterville, Maine. Awarded 3rd place in photography.

2019 Atmospheric Water, A themed group show, L.C. Bates Museum, Hinckley, Maine.

2019 Spring Show, a solo show, The Last Unicorn, Waterville, Maine.

2018 Ebb & Flow, A juried group show, Common Street Arts, Waterville, Maine.

2018 Visual Echoes, A joint show with Patrick Groleau and Chad Tracy, FrameMakers, Waterville, Maine.

2018 Bird on a Wire, A themed group show, L.C. Bates Museum, Hinckley, Maine.

2017 The Sky Surrounds Us, A joint show with Barbara Joseph, Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville, Maine.

2017 Perspectives, A collaborative show with Shawn Burke, combining John’s photography with Shawn’s original music, written and inspired by the photography, Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Maine. A video featuring Shawn’s music set to John’s photography in this show is also called Perspectives.

2017 Maine Open Juried Art Show, Common Street Arts, Waterville, Maine.

2015 The Maine Photography Show, A juried group show, Boothbay Region Art Foundation, Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

2015 Poetry of Maine’s Fog, Rain, Snow and Ice, An open group show, Waterfall Arts, Belfast, Maine.

2014 The Maine Photography Show, A juried group show, Boothbay Region Art Foundation, Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

2013 Four Meaders Four, A joint show with Abbott Meader, Forrest Meader, and Nancy Meader, Central Maine Arstist’s Gallery, Skowhegan, Maine.

2013 Honey, I Shrunk the ARTworks, An open group show, Common Street Arts, Waterville, Maine.