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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

  • To be able to be a part of actual scientific research is what science education is all about. From a teacher perspective how can we prepare the next round of scientists if we do not have first hand knowledge of what scientists do? With this opportunity, we can involve students in the research process and give them a better understanding of how scientific research is done -- thus preparing them for their own future discoveries.
  • [student:] I think one of the most interesting things I did was having conversations with college students and their posters. The reality of the experience was more than I could have imagined, having the opportunity to have one to one conversations with people making substantial research in the field was more than what I expected.
  • [student:] This program completely altered my perception of what astronomy is and what astronomers actually do. Sure, there is a lot of data analysis and paper writing, but seeing everyone come together at AAS showed me the passion these people have for their careers and it was a really cool thing to see.
  • I did not anticipate learning so much that I feel I could direct students on further projects. I find that extremely exciting!
  • 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.

Related Teams

AAS - 2019