Burness Ansell has always had a fascination with astronomy, but his interests didn't blossom until he purchased an 8-inch Celestron telescope while in college. Even though Burness wasn't an astronomy major, he landed a job as a physics lab assistant teaching observational astronomy at the Virginia Tech observatory. He served in the US Navy Reserves from 1982-1993 as a Naval Intelligence Officer during the Gulf War. In 1985, he moved to Denver and began work in aerospace engineering. Burness has worked on numerous space-related projects including work on the Mars Global Surveyor program. Burness performed volunteer work at Gates Planetarium until 2000. In 1990, he helped re-establish the International Association for Astronomical Studies. Burness earned his Extra Class Amateur Radio license in 1995. Burness is Director of Aerospace Technologies for the International Association for Astronomical Studies. He is the host/net control of the Colorado Astronomy Net connected to the SkyHubLink Amateur Radio System. The Colorado Astronomy Net is open to amateur radio operators and listeners and is branching out to present the Net on Youtube. He is the webmaster of the IAAS Monthly Astronomy Newsletter. He is now retired.