Chelen Johnson
The Dust Mights team will be searching for Galactic sources in the Spitzer Enhanced Imaging Products catalog which have an excess amount of infrared light and whose distances are known from Gaia observations.
It was very satisfying to be able to converse with the grad students about their science and actually understand what they were talking about.
The best thing about the trip was the chance to interact with others who are trying to do the same things that I am trying to do. No one else around me tries to do student research (even though I have tried to get other teachers involved), not in my district nor in any of the surrounding ones. It was great to spend time with other teachers (and their students) who are trying to accomplish the same things that I am trying to do.
I was surprised and very encouraged to see a high proportion of people which are generally considered underrepresented in the sciences. That was a terrific take-home message for my students.
