NASA/IPAC Teacher
Archive Research Program

I've been involved in many professional development activities and this is by far the best one I've ever done

Chelen Johnson

Team Red Shift: Using Spitzer Space Telescope images to find clusters of galaxies at a large distance from the Earth.

My NITARP experience has made me rethink my entire approach to science education. Many of my students expect me to do the work and pretty much hand it to them all wrapped up and neat. Science education must involve a great deal of discovery by the student and not a string of topics with definitions.
Just being exposed to the jargon is mind opening, and I can’t imagine walking into this convention and being asked to present without having this initial exposure. I think this [first AAS] trip is a crucial part of the program.
NITARP has exposed me to the huge amount of data available and how to access it. I have data to work with for decades, and I have learned new ways to work with it.