Chelen Johnson
Morphology and Orientaion Research: Inclination of AGN (MORIA) -- All-Volunteer NITARP 2026 team studying AGN with Euclid.
I was much more comfortable approaching people presenting their posters. Last year I felt like I was in way over my head. This year I felt like I fit in just fine, I knew so much more and had the confidence to speak freely about what I didn’t understand. I realized that no one understands all of it, but becoming an expert at one thing gives you the confidence and motivation to learn more.
Every science teacher should get to go through a program like this.
The more I talked with astronomers and support staff at the different booths [at my first AAS], the more I began to realize that being a teacher, and an amateur astronomer, is really very different from being a professional astronomer.
