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Summer Visit - 2016 - LLAMMa

The summer visit to Caltech is 3-4 days long and is the only time during the year of work when all the participants on the team come together in person to work intensively on the data. Generally, each educator may bring up to two students to the summer visit that are paid for by NITARP, and they may raise funds to bring two more. The teams work at Caltech; the summer visit typically includes a half-day tour of JPL, which is a favorite site for group photos. Reload to see a different set of quotes.

The LLAMMa team came to visit in July 2016. The 3 core team educators attended, plus 11 students.

Quotes

  • [student:] I don’t think our work at Caltech would have been possible online. While in the room, we were able to ask questions, collaborate, and work in groups. We also got a chance to meet the rest of our team in person. All of this would be very difficult to do online.
  • [student:] The most surprising thing that I learned and did not anticipate was the amount of diversity that was present. I would have never guessed that you didn’t need some sort of astronomical background to be a part of the astronomical community.
  • Astronomers need to be independently motivated (be able to work alone with a strong drive) and to also work well in teams (and not just with other scientists). They are problem solvers and love a good mystery. Also, they need to have the patience to stick with a project for years. And they should be able to juggle more than one project at once.
  • [student:] Until last year, I thought astronomy was confined to learning about our Solar System. I thought astronomers didn’t work in the day and stood at a telescope all night taking notes. After all, my only astronomy unit was in third grade, when we learned about the planets. After all of our research, work, and speakers, I understand that there are many branches of astronomy.
  • [student:] I think all astronomers must be curious, not afraid of work, hardworking, and must care about what they do.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2016 - LLAMMa