Chelen Johnson
This virtual team collects all independent research presented in 2008, and done by Spitzer alumni with students outside of a formal Spitzer team. Mr. Spuck's students worked on classifying galaxies in the Spitzer observations of the Taurus Molecular Cloud.
Participating in NITARP has made me more confident about teaching Astronomy and communicating to students about how archive Astronomy research is done. They are surprised to learn that even THEY could do Astronomy research. My students and I had such a experience (they LOVED the JPL tour) and I'd love to participate again because I have some new students that I think would love this program!
For the teacher, connecting with working scientists and networking with other colleagues has immeasurable value. I plan to utilize these relationships and potentially other projects spawned by them for years to come.
Working with teachers and astronomers across the country was great for my personal knowledge. Working across times zones was another fun, but interesting challenge. Learning how to work with completely new people, being in a new place, learning new material, all of these experiences help shape me better as a person.
