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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

  • This experience reduced so much of the mystery about how astronomy research is done, and made it much more accessible. I know there are still so many ways that astronomy research happens that I don’t know, but this experience makes me feel like I’d be able to relate to those other methods, and envision being able to do the work.
  • This experience has increased my self-efficacy. I know now that I can do it. I know that sounds funny but I have a renewed sense of ability and drive. I think I had lulled myself into “good enough” and this experience has shown me what is possible.
  • [student:] through this past year I was able to see the impact of having people in professions that are “like” you. For me, this is the idea that there are women astronomers that aren’t necessarily the stereotypical science type, but women who are smart and powerful but also are in touch with their feminine side and still dress up and do “girly” things. I remember when our team first found out that we were working with a female astronomer we all freaked out and got so excited for the chance to work with that specific astronomer.
  • [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.
  • My biggest takeaway is to actually be on the receiving end of constructivist education. The experience was frustrating, intimidating, and … extremely fulfilling. I have learned a lot of things through this experience. I will be more cognizant of helping students through their frustrations and being open about wanting to help them learn. I plan on integrating our research into my science and education classes. I purchased a FLIR and made an infrared lab using the device for my physics course. I will also be better able to explain more aspects of astronomy and careers associated with the field.

Related Teams

AAS - 2020