Stephen Tonkin, BSc (Hons), F.R.A.S. has been a keen amateur astronomer since childhood and now spends most of his time doing astronomical education and outreach, both as a Lecturer in Astronomy for an adult education college, and independently with his own organization, The Astronomical Unit. He organizes and leads astronomy courses and talks, public observing, and astronomy-related storytelling for children and adults. In 2000, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
He has been using binoculars for astronomy for over forty years, initially under the pristine African skies under which he grew up, and as his main observing instrument for the last decade. He actively promotes and encourages the use of binoculars within the amateur astronomy community and publishes a monthly e-zine, The Binocular Sky Newsletter, for binocular astronomers. He also writes the monthly Binocular Tour in Sky at Night magazine.
He now lives on the edge of the New Forest, which has some of the darkest skies in southern England. On clear moonless nights when he's not working, he can usually be found at one of these dark sites, exploring the night sky with his binoculars.