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AAS - 2020

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 2019 and 2020 NITARP teams attended the 2020 January AAS meeting in Honolulu, HI. The 2019 class was presenting results and the 2020 class was starting up. We had 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:

2019 Teams:

NITARP Management:

Returning Alumni Teams:

Quotes

  • I am going to add more data analysis to my astronomy classes and math classes. It has increased my expectations of what students are capable of as well.
  • [student:] The experience will help me with moments where I feel over my head. Previous to NITARP, if there was a moment in class, I really just had no idea what was going on, I would give up, stop paying attention, and just vow to pick up the information from the start another time. I learned through our initial virtual meetings that just does not work very well. Efficient notetaking, even when I don’t really understand what’s being said is a skill I’ll take with me for a long time.
  • [student:] through this past year I was able to see the impact of having people in professions that are “like” you. For me, this is the idea that there are women astronomers that aren’t necessarily the stereotypical science type, but women who are smart and powerful but also are in touch with their feminine side and still dress up and do “girly” things. I remember when our team first found out that we were working with a female astronomer we all freaked out and got so excited for the chance to work with that specific astronomer.
  • [student:] This experience definitely changed my thoughts about astronomy and astronomers. I thought that it would be a bunch of old, white guys who were socially awkward. After getting to meet astronomers and work with some, I realized that was not the case. They are a diverse and extremely friendly group who are more than happy to help you learn.
  • I did not realize how much I would enjoy the experience. I know this sounds weird but [...] “astronomy is my weakest science”. I wanted to be a supporter of all sciences and that strategy is difficult when you do not “see” yourself as being an astronomy researcher/ scientist. I believe I felt this way because I had never been immersed in a group of people so in love with the discipline. I was constantly making easy connections with biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering. I walk away from this experience better able to help my students, and in turn their [future] students, understand how accessible the field is for anyone. There are literally countless ways that astronomy can relate to one’s life and future career path.

Related Teams

AAS - 2020