Chelen Johnson
Hungry Giants- WISE Excesses and Lithium Study (HG-WELS) - studying giants which may or may not be eating planets, and may or may not be ejecting enough dust as a result so as to be bright in the infrared.
I have been in education for 4 decades and this one program has given me more confidence in teaching space science than any college training I ever did.
I was somewhat intimated at the prospect of working with Caltech scientists... however I found my first experience one that eased all my trepidations and instilled excitement for the work I will be doing.
Some of my students will be benefiting directly [from my AAS trip] as I currently have 7 students interested in being part of our research team for NITARP. My first day back from the conference I spent the class time sharing with them the exciting news regarding exoplanet research from Dr. Marcy's presentation on Monday as well as a discussion on YSOs and the likely direction that our project will take.