Chelen Johnson
The Sharpless CHARcuterie Playground (SCHARP) team will be studying several targets selected from the Sharpless (1959) catalog to see if there are young stars therein.
To get the chance to work with astronomers and researchers in the field, to do authentic research, and to attend conventions and be immersed in astronomy is absolutely amazing for a high school science teacher.
I've attended many NSTA conference that focus on science education, but this purely scientific conference was an amazing opportunity. I gained a true appreciation for both the quantity and quality of research and work being conducted in the field of and astrophysics. [...]It made me feel like I was part of a community of learners with the same, or at least related interests. [...]
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.
