Chelen Johnson
HIPS (Hidden In Plain Sight) AGN will be using archival surveys for stellar variability to detect variability in active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the background.
What makes NITARP extraordinary is the level of commitment: both the program's commitment to teachers, and the commitment required from teachers. Teachers commit to a year of hard work, study, risk taking, and intellectual growth. In return, NITARP commits to teachers the most precious resource possible: attentive and supportive mentorship from astronomers at one of the world's premiere research institutions. For me and my students the results have been transformative.
I was nearly moved to tears watching the students share our research at the poster session.
Honestly, I left [the 2013 AAS] a bit more in love with astronomy. I just plain had fun wandering and treated myself to time as a learner. It is not often we, educators, get to slide out of expert mode and into learner mode.
