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:

Science Poster - McElroy et al., "OIRMA: Optical Infrared Reverberation Mapping of AGN"
Science Poster - Anderson, et al., "Identifying Candidate Young Stellar Objects in the Spider Nebula (IC 417) Using Archival Visible and Infrared Data"
Education Poster - Rodriguez et al., "Methods for Retention and Promoting Self-Efficacy in Secondary Students in Astronomical Research"
Education Poster - Sharif et al., "Rich Experiential Education in a Remote Setting by NITARP"

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

Quotes

[...]one of the greatest lessons I think I learned about professional scientists… they are drowning in challenges but keep smiling, keep questioning, and keep persisting. Building in the necessity of that kind of resiliency can’t be faked.
[student:] NITARP, more than anything, has taught me how to deal with being truly lost in information. It has been[...]the hardest “class” I’ve ever taken. But if I want to pursue a career in this field, I’m sure it won’t be the last time I get in over my head. NITARP does a great job preparing me for how to take notes, and what to do when I just don’t “get it.” In past years, I might be inclined to bury my head in the sand when I get lost. Now I know to keep my head up, and look for bits of info I recognize. Find a lifeline.
The support offered was fantastic as we were given the environment to be very comfortable with asking any questions we may have.
NITARP is not about the answer, but instead about how to find the answer. It can be reinvigorating to return to that wonder about how and why
[student:] I was expecting the data to be clear and easy to draw conclusions from. In school-based labs the data is always handed to you on a plate in an easy to digest way. In this case most of the data was interrupted by excess noise, and only 4 out of our roughly 500 sources showed promise. This was disappointing at first, but it also gave me newfound respect for researchers who spend years of their life working on new scientific breakthroughs.

The application period is now closed for NITARP 2025. We will release our selection for the 2025 class at the 2025 January AAS.

AAS - 2021

Quotes

Related Teams