NASA/IPAC Teacher
Archive Research Program

I've been involved in many professional development activities and this is by far the best one I've ever done

Chelen Johnson

Team Red Shift: Using Spitzer Space Telescope images to find clusters of galaxies at a large distance from the Earth.

[The best thing about the trip was} Doing real science. I can't say enough how much I value the opportunity NITARP has given me to be part of real astronomy research for the first time in my career. Bringing back the knowledge, the feeling of not knowing, the drive to continue to find an answer and the skills that I needed to work in a group will be so helpful to me and my students.
I have a much better sense of what research astronomy is about now, and I think I will have more confidence to try new things (related to astronomy) going forward.
...the most interesting thing I noticed this year [at my second AAS] was that I spent much more time seeking out, listening to and talking about science than I did about education itself.