Shadow of an April Moon in Erie, Pennsylvania

The great North American total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, passed directly over Erie, the largest city in Pennsylvania to witness the event. A total solar eclipse will not be witnessed in the city again until 2144. As an astronomer and physicist with prior experience of total eclipse events, I was ideally positioned both professionally and geographically for the incredible opportunity presented by this celestial event to inform the Erie community on how to witness the eclipse safely. The 2024 total solar eclipse presented an unrivaled opportunity to conduct original research locally and across the country and to carry out meaningful and necessary outreach to schools and the community at large. I discuss here my integrated outreach, public safety education, and research programs that were conducted during the 2024 total solar eclipse including communication efforts with K-12 school students, the general public, and interactions with local, national, and international media institutions. I include discussion of my experiences in 69 public, private, and media appearances related to the total solar eclipse over the 2023-2024 period. I discuss the conceptualization and creation of a series of ‘eclipse windows’, large solar filters several feet across that allowed groups of people to observe the total eclipse side by side without the need for eclipse glasses. I also discuss the integration of a nation-spanning eclipse research program into these efforts, which provided opportunities for students in locations across the USA to participate in scientific research related to atmospheric changes during the eclipse.