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AAS - 2013

The Winter American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting is the largest meeting of professional astronomers in the world. NITARP educators attend an AAS first to meet their team, then they go home and work remotely for much of the year, and then attend an AAS to present their results.  At any given AAS, then, we could have two NITARP classes attending - those finishing up, and those getting started. Reload to see a different set of quotes.

We were out in force at the AAS 2013 meeting in Long Beach, CA! A record number of NITARP-affiliated people attended, including the 2012 class finishing up and the 2013 class getting going. The 80 or so NITARP-affiliated folks made up about 3% of the AAS attendees.

Special article on AAS attendees!  And don't miss Danielle Miller's blog!

Quotes

  • Overall, this project has seriously been one of the best things I've ever done and made me feel like a real part of an adult community of highly intelligent people.
  • Before ever having experienced an American Astronomical Society meeting, I thought I was well versed in the astronomer's culture. After taking numerous classes, doing hands-on labs, and even having worked in the field of astronomy education for several years now I also thought I knew what an astronomer did. My experience has been one of culture shock. [...] The AAS conference is a factory for knowledge and truth about the Universe. As David Helfand, president of the society said in his opening remarks, "We do astronomy because it defines us as human beings." I'm just now truly beginning to understand.
  • This experience made me develop a higher respect for astronomers and the intensive work they commit themselves to.
  • By far, the most interesting part of my entire NITARP experience is the scientific method applied to the discovery process.
  • [I talked to students presenting from NITARP 2012 and] although they were nervous, they did a wonderful presentation. They knew their stuff and fielded questions well. Most of all, you could tell they had grown as students and were passionate about their topics and what they had found. To me, that was awesome. I hope my students will show the same poise[...]

Related Teams

AAS - 2013