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AAS - 2020

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 2019 and 2020 NITARP teams attended the 2020 January AAS meeting in Honolulu, HI. The 2019 class was presenting results and the 2020 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:

2019 Teams:

NITARP Management:

Returning Alumni Teams:

Quotes

  • [student:] I will use my experience to show that anyone can be a scientist. It is not just for the smart kids. Anyone can try it. [... science] is not something to fear but something to explore and be curious about.
  • I am going to add more data analysis to my astronomy classes and math classes. It has increased my expectations of what students are capable of as well.
  • [student:] This experience made me realize how many jobs are under the umbrella of astronomy – how many different things you can do and learn under that umbrella. You could have any number of skills or interests and still be able to work in astronomy.
  • [...] it is really hard to isolate one moment or cite one experience as the most interesting. In fact, what stands out to me is the cumulative experience. It is comparing my ignorance during the AAS Seattle meeting with my comprehension during the AAS Honolulu meeting. [...] I was a bit overwhelmed and a little unnerved about what I had gotten myself into. [...] during AAS Honolulu, I was amazed at how much more I was able to take in during the conference sessions. Not only that, but I was so pleased and proud and the performance of my students, [...] during the poster session for our science research. They were able to explain our project so coolly and completely. That they benefited so much from the experience is extremely gratifying to me as a teacher.
  • [student:] NITARP showed me that astronomy means more than looking up at the sky, and it also showed me that astronomers, and especially the ones at NITARP, are friendly and collaborative. Also, to add on, it showed me that astronomers are surprisingly sociable, and that astronomy requires communication skills considering they must present their research.

Related Teams

AAS - 2020