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.
For me as an educator, it was really rejuvenating to come out here (and bring a student with) and dive into actual astronomical research.
[At my first AAS,] I felt like I got to meet a lot of people and learn some cool things, and think about how to best educate people. It feels like a lot of people with a common goal, very connected and leaving was kind of sad, like separation. Other than my group, I did not run into another NITARP teacher after Sunday; I don't think I realized how big this conference was.
Real astronomy is very exciting! I was not expecting to have to solve problems in excel the way we did. We were asked to answer simple questions or develop simple graphs at times but in order to get correct results (as far as we can tell) our team had to parse our skills and play with logic. I remember creating my first SED: I became so excited I could not sit down anymore. Another teacher was so thrilled they raised their hands and yelled in excitement. It was the first time we had results; it was a thrill.
