Chelen Johnson
They Might Be Giants are using data from the Kepler mission to classify the brightness changes of giant stars in an effort to understand how the observed brightness variations of giant stars may relate to the different stages of giant star evolution.
To me what stood out [at my first AAS] was the wide variety of work – from characterization of the structure of the Milky Way (more of a challenge than I ever knew!) to the search for and characterization of exoplanets to the understanding of how quasar evolution relates to the origins of the Universe.
Every time we meet or talk or work on the project I feel just a little bit more knowledgeable, skilled and, perhaps most importantly, confident in what I know and can do...
It has been a pleasure working in the program and with the other educators and students.