Chelen Johnson
The "new" astronomy has become something we all knew was coming: handling huge chunks of data and learning how to mine this information from sets so large that it is simply mind boggling. The interesting thing is that many people are not aware of this, notably teachers in the trenches.
Since starting with NITARP, my Astronomy Research Course has grown by leaps and bounds. Much of this has to do with conversation I have and connections I make at the AAS each year.
I really feel that NITARP is a gem of a program.