NASA/IPAC Teacher
Archive Research Program

I've been involved in many professional development activities and this is by far the best one I've ever done

Chelen Johnson

Star Formation in CG4: Using infrared and optical space and ground based images to search for newly forming stars in Cometary Globule 4.

[I have] an example of a student who, previous to the summer trip did not have a focused direction for his future after high school, but now does. [He wants to be a scientist.]
I think the best thing about the trip was working with an actual research scientist (Luisa Rebull) at the Spitzer Science Center. This is a unique opportunity that not very many teachers and high school students get.
I didn’t know just how much data is publicly available. Anyone can do astronomy – you just need to come up with a question and figure out how to use the archives.