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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

  • There is a huge difference between a quick professional development and a thorough professional learning experience and NITARP provides the latter.
  • I gained a new respect for astronomers and the patience required to do work in that field. My job as a teacher resets every year and is in constant flux, whereas there are astronomers who may spend their entire life working toward one discovery. Then, they may not even still be alive when the discovery is officially made. They were just one step in the process. That kind of persistence is impressive.
  • Before NITARP, I didn’t really know how much I enjoyed doing research. I had done it before (in grad school and afterwards with RBSE), but it really hit home how enjoyable it was for me once I got involved with the NITARP program. I really like doing it and I plan on continuing with it.
  • I thought I knew astronomy and quickly became aware that my depth of knowledge was a mere puddle compared to the Marianna trench.
  • NITARP has made me really hungry for intense, in-depth experiences—I can no longer imagine doing the sort of basic PD sessions that many local school systems offer to their teachers.

Related Teams

AAS - 2019