• NASA
  • IPAC

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:] I now know that I want to continue to pursue astronomy, but as a hobby instead of a full career. The amount of time astronomers dedicate to their work is astounding and I don’t think that I could do that.
  • I have added a whole new dimension of astronomical research and support for my students working on individual projects and competitions that was missing. I’ve also added a plethora of new contacts, both educators and scientists, to my professional learning network. My confidence and ability to teach students more space related curriculum has also increased.
  • I knew that, like any scientists or teachers, astronomers LOVE their profession. I have no idea why but I never thought there would be so many astronomers. A lot of people love astronomy and they do not resemble each other. I was presently surprised by the diversity in every aspect.
  • [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.
  • [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.

Related Teams

AAS - 2019