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AAS - 2016

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 2015 and 2016 NITARP teams attended the 2016 January AAS meeting in Kissimmee, FL. The 2015 class was presenting results and the 2016 class was starting up. We had many alumni raise money to come back as well. We sent about 50 people to the AAS and had a grand time. Please see the special article on NITARP at the AAS, and a special article on NITARP alumni at the AAS. All of the posters we presented are here:

Quotes

  • [student:] . Astronomy was always looking at constellations and going to the moon before I joined NITARP. It's been eye-opening.
  • In my astronomy classes, I am [now] much more likely to refer to current research in my discussions in class. In addition, I routinely use astronomy archives in my astronomy research class -- examples include, Catalina Sky Survey, SIMBAD, ADS, NED, and VSX. I am aware of the power of these archives because of NITARP.
  • I was nearly moved to tears watching the students share our research at the poster session. I was expecting them to act more like disinterested teenagers but they certainly did not. Their enthusiasm was infectious. I wish I had videotaped the entire poster session to share with all my other students.
  • [student:] To be able to say that I was involved in something so real is a bit surreal. I’m finding it hard to articulate what the experience was like, eye-opening, humbling, overwhelming, nothing quite fits. It’s changed me in a way I can’t really describe. Heart-opening. That would be the closest I could get to convey this feeling of just openness. Being open to new information, to new ideas, to new people, to new experiences, to myself. This unplaceable excitement for something that’s not really tangible. This was the most profound experience of my life.
  • NITARP is the most intense and satisfying professional development programs I have participated in. It forced me to feet the frustrations my students feel when they are trying to learn new material.

Related Teams

AAS - 2016