AAS - 2015
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.
The 2014 and 2015 NITARP teams attended the 2015 January AAS meeting in Seattle, WA. The 2014 class was presenting results and the 2015 class was starting up. We had many alumni raise money to come back as well. We sent about 50 people to the AAS and had a grand time. Please see the special article on NITARP at the AAS. All of the posters we presented are here:
- 2014 teams
- Self-funded alumni teams
- Science Poster - Bensel, et al., "Survey of Light Pollution in the Rogue Valley, Southwest Oregon, St. Mary's School, Medford, Oregon"
- Education Poster - French, et al., "LASSI Launching Astronomy: Standards and STEM Integration"
- Education Poster - Johnson, et al., "Astronomy Across State Lines: A Collaborative Project for Astronomical Research"
- Education Poster - Kelly, et al., "Next Generation Scientists: Creating Opportunities for High School Students Through Astronomical Research"
- Science Poster - Rutherford, et al., "Color-Magnitude Relationships Among Quasars and Type I Seyfert Galaxies"
- NITARP management
Quotes
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[student:] I knew that astronomers were cool, but I never knew they could be THAT cool!
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My students told me, as we were debriefing on Thursday before boarding the plane home, that on the first day of the conference they felt a bit intimidated to be among so many highly intelligent people. But they soon discovered that astronomers are real people – they are passionate, friendly, and happy to talk about their work. By the second day they had no fear of approaching anyone and talking about their work – even my 8th grade student was actively talking to people at their posters and booths by the last day, so much so we had a hard time pulling her away to take a picture.
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[This is going to change my classroom because] Definitely [I have] more empathy for kids who tend to be quiet and not ask questions. I’ll also collaborate more with fellow teachers.
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[student:] Our teacher gave us the basic rules, and just let us go. In the beginning, we had no idea where to start. We were supposed to pick a topic of research and I remember being so used to teachers telling me every single thing I had to accomplish and every thing I wasn’t supposed to do or try. This project taught me that you will never get a checklist in a scientific career. There are no answers yet, and it’s up to you to figure them out. This is why I have trouble with the way students are taught in school. It’s easy to get an A when you have everything you’re supposed to do as a checklist, but there is no learning in that. You can’t fail at something that’s already done for you.
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My students saw a community of people who truly love what they do and are willing to explain it. They made many contacts and saw what science is all about – sharing discoveries and collaboration. Most importantly, they discovered that they can do this themselves, that they can belong to this community as well. Now they know they can become scientists and engineers themselves and not be afraid to follow their dreams and passions. Even if they don’t plan on being astronomers, at least now they know they can be successful in any science or engineering career. And for those that do plan on becoming astronomers (including one of my students), they made valuable contacts for internships, undergrad and graduate schools, scholarships, etc.
