• NASA
  • IPAC

AAS - 2021

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.  This year, the pandemic forced the Jan 2021 meeting online, and meant that we didn't select a new class for 2021, so only one class is attending the online AAS. 

The 2020 NITARP teams attended the 2021 January AAS. We sent about 30 people to the AAS. All of the posters we presented are here:

2020 Teams:

Also see video "turbo talks" from ORMA team : science and education.

 

Quotes

  • The most interesting thing I did over the whole year was seeing the entire process of how [we] thought of [the] research question, then how we would gather the data to explore it (using IRSA) and then learning the software (Topcat) that made sense of the data. The reality of the experience matched my expectations. It was a bumpy process, with points where we needed to pivot.
  • [student:] [This project] showed me the importance of not only performing authentic research, but also by communicating it and involving interested parties that are not professional astronomers.
  • [As a result of NITARP,] I spend more time talking about diligence, persistence, resiliency and collaboration as being as essential as knowledge and skill. I am also just more excited than ever to bring real world data and research processes into my classroom.
  • [..] as someone who has both careers in science and education, this is the most authentic experience I've had that satisfies both. I never felt like I was just a teacher observing, nor did I wonder how to take it back to the class.
  • [From NITARP,] Teachers learn what it is to be overwhelmed by new material that the presenters have long ago mastered. This humbling experience is profound and deepens empathy with students, and leads to better teaching.

Related Teams

A NITARP pause: we are not expecting to be able to support a NITARP 2026 class as a result of the current funding uncertainty. We hope to resume in 2027.