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AAS - 2014

The Winter American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting is the largest meeting of professional astronomers in the world. NITARP educators attend an AAS first to meet their team, then they go home and work remotely for much of the year, and then attend an AAS to present their results.  At any given AAS, then, we could have two NITARP classes attending - those finishing up, and those getting started. Reload to see a different set of quotes.

The 2013 and 2014 NITARP teams attended the 2014 January AAS meeting in National Harbor, MD (outside of Washington, DC). The 2013 class was presenting results and the 2014 class was starting up. We had a lot of alumni raise their own money to come back as well. We sent about 75 people to the AAS and had a grand time. Please see the special article on NITARP at the AAS. One of our participants, Peggy Piper, participated in a Congressional briefing on Thursday! All the posters we presented are linked from the team's pages below, except for HG-WELS and SIRXS, because they are the two new teams.


Quotes

  • [student:] The most interesting thing was the AAS conference. There were so many interesting people and so much new information that you can't help but become lost in it.
  • [student:] After seeing professional astronomers present and give lectures, I do believe that astronomers are some of the smartest people around but I also believe they are also some of the most curious because almost every single person at the AAS meeting discovered something new that the world has never known before.
  • [student:] This experience changed my views not just about astronomy, but science in general because it showed me just how much little things interact with each other and form a big picture understanding. This will change the way I look at almost all my subjects, as now I will start thinking from the get-go where everything fits in the goal I am trying to achieve, whether it be economics or physics.
  • Through this whole process I’ve learned that astronomy research is about connections. Who you meet, what they do, and how each has a part in a greater picture. Sharing information, connections and discussions.
  • I came to NITARP hoping to learn how students visualize astronomy. In grappling through my own learning process I re-discovered learning to learn a totally new subject – for its joys and frustrations. But more so, I found a new way of teaching visually and the tools to begin programming what I hope will be lessons that help open more doors to students who might not get a subject on the first pass, but will be awesome at it with a few supports.

AAS - 2014