Chelen Johnson
This virtual team collects all independent research presented in 2017, and done by NITARP or Spitzer alumni with (or without) students outside of a formal NITARP team.
I was surprised how many people I now know after 2 AAS [meetings]. There were quite a few people who remembered me and were interested in talking with me. This was fun (I like talking with people) and disruptive as I did not make as many talks as I anticipated.
I kept wishing this program had been available when I was a kid. Wanting to be a scientist, I had no role model or support and never pursued it.
I gave a presentation on my group's experience with NITARP at a dinner for about 100 members of the Waynflete School community[..]. The crowd was very impressed with the program and the idea of having students not only conduct authentic scientific research, but then also be able to present their findings to the scientific community.
