Chelen Johnson
This virtual team collects all independent research presented in 2014, and done by NITARP or Spitzer alumni with (or without) students outside of a formal NITARP team.
The science part of our project was overwhelming to me at first. [...]Since then I have learned an incredible amount from my mentor teacher, mentor scientists and my group members.
It was very special to be in the room when the announcement of planet Kepler 10b (an estimated 1.4 X the size of the Earth) was discovered. I turned to my student Inga and asked, "How does it feel to be one of the first people on planet Earth to know about this discovery?" She replied, "I never thought of it like that ... it's pretty cool."
Our kids did a fantastic job of interacting with the many astronomers and educators that came to see our poster. They were poised and knowledgeable and handled questions with ease. I heard many compliments not only about the students explanation of our work, but also about the great job they did constructing their poster.
