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AAS - 2019

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 2018 and 2019 NITARP teams attended the 2019 January AAS meeting in Seattle, WA. The 2018 class was presenting results and the 2019 class was starting up. We had 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. All of the posters we presented are here:

2018 Teams:

NITARP Management:

Returning Alumni Teams:

 

Quotes

  • [student:] The whole NITARP experience changed my perspective and increased my passion for astronomy.
  • I can't believe how many amazingly smart people there are in this field. I was also very impressed by the undergrads and the research they were doing. And I was pleased to see continued progress in the diversity in the field.
  • [the most interesting thing was] Taking something that seemed so beyond my realm of expertise and experience and making it a reality. When I began the project, I thought that this was going to be a year of just getting by and hoping that no one noticed I had no idea what I was doing, but it turned out I really got involved and learned.
  • I think that you can see a distinct difference between science teachers with a research background and science teachers who just went to school for teaching. Kids need to stop getting the worksheet recipe of a lab and taught critical thinking skills. Projects like this help teachers get that.
  • [student:] [...] plenary lecture on gravitational wave detection. I expected something completely different from what I learned and realized there. I had no clue how much of an effort over such a long time has gone into it. For some of them, it was their life’s work and they never got to even see the day that we had accomplished only a single detection. That realization is good and all, but the biggest thing that interested me was the way it got me thinking. It is an entirely new way to do astronomy. A new way to look at the universe. Who knows what this could bring? What other ways will we discover? Will I be a part of that? It sprung an endless wave of questions, and settled a completely unrealistic and unfounded fear of mine that science is approaching a ceiling.

Related Teams

AAS - 2019