Chelen Johnson
Investigtating Moving-group Photometry and Understanding Lightcurve Structures (IMPULS) will be studying rotation rates of stars in the young nearby Beta Pic Moving Group.
[My favorite part of NITARP is] Getting a chance to participate in cutting edge research. As an educator you don't always get those opportunities, since you're always focused on teaching, teaching, teaching, so it’s exciting to see the science that's happening in the present moment.
I rarely get out among other teachers in the same field as I am, with similar interest and motivations, and even less often do I have time to be in the company of professional scientists to see and hear what they are doing, how it is being done, what technologies are being used, etc. Without this type of program to get me to a meeting like the AAS I would never be able to put all of this together.
Since I teach students how to do research, it would be cool if I was doing research too and show them that I don't know what's going to happen, and I'm doing the same type of stuff that they are doing in research class. I wanted NITARP to help make me a better teacher in research and a better teacher in astronomy.
