About Marnie.
For more than 20 years, I’ve worked at the intersection of tourism, conservation, and community – helping people experience the night in ways that are meaningful, memorable, and worth protecting.
This all started through leading astronomy tours around the world with my husband, astronomer Fred Watson. Watching people see a truly dark sky for the first time – their reactions, their sense of wonder – is what shaped everything that followed. That moment of connection is what stayed with me, and it’s what continues to drive my work.
Over the past decade, I’ve focused more directly on dark sky advocacy, helping build awareness across Australia and contributing to the growth of dark sky tourism and policy. Increasingly, my work has shifted toward supporting councils, communities, and organisations to engage more broadly with the night – not just protecting it, but using it well.
“Helping people fall in love with the night – and inspiring them to protect it.”
Connecting tourism, conservation and community
As founder of the Australasian Dark Sky Alliance and Director of Dark Sky Traveller, I’ve worked nationally to support the protection of Australia’s night skies and the development of tourism and programs around them. Along the way, I’ve designed and led tours, delivered public programs, and organised large-scale events that bring people back into the night.
I’m particularly interested in practical, grounded work – helping places find their own way of working with darkness, whether that’s through tourism, planning, or community engagement.
The night sky is one of Australia’s most extraordinary natural assets – and one of the most overlooked. Whether I am speaking, consulting, guiding or writing, my purpose remains the same: to help people fall in love with the night – and inspire them to protect it.