AAS - 2023

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 2022 and 2023 NITARP teams attended the 2023 January AAS meeting in Seattle, WA. The 2022 class was presenting results and the 2023 class was starting up. We had alumni raise money to come back as well. We sent about 30 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:

2022 Teams:

Ciambra et al., A More Complete List of YSO Candidates in AFGL 490
Benter et al., Survey of the Spitzer Enhanced Imaging Products (SEIP) Catalog for Potential Debris Disks Around Main Sequence M Class Stars
Bonham et al., NGSS Science and Engineering Practices in Secondary Education through Real Astronomical Research
Swigert et al., Teacher Roles within NITARP: a 13-month Research Collaboration

Alumni:

Granucci, "Does a Solar Telescope generate more interest in astronomy than Night Observing Telescope?" (talk)
Kniezewski, "To Rain or Not to Rain: Correlating GOES Flare Class and Coronal Rain Statistics" (poster and press release; student alumna!)

Quotes

Why can't teachers go to conferences more often? Educators need support to gain experience and pass that experience on!
My (original) NITARP experience prompted me to immediately start a scientific research group (like a club) that met before and after school. In Tennessee, Scientific Research is an actual laboratory course complete with state standards, so I started teaching that course when I moved to Tennessee. This year, I was able to expand my course with funding from the Tennessee Rural STEM Collaborative. I followed the example of NITARP and have located subject-matter experts as mentors for the students for their self-selected projects. Nine of my students are taking their research projects to the Regeneron science fair entry event in east Tennessee, including my two NITARP students, who are investigating light variations of stars in NGC 1245. No one from Greene County Schools (my school district) has ever had students present research at this venue.
Teachers are more effective and inspirational when they engage in the learning process just like their students. NITARP is invaluable for teachers and is far superior than any professional development that a school district could or would offer.
It is hard feeling like you do not know what’s going on or not being strong in this content area, but it is an important reminder that this is often what our students go through. This experience was a good reminder that not everyone will absorb the content at the same pace and at the same time. I often felt behind on understanding the content, and when I did, I asked questions. It is important to ask questions!
[student:] This experience truly showed me what astronomy was like. I was excited and amazed to witness the collaborative nature of this work, and was excited to collaborate with my NITARP team on the research we did. I had no conception of what astronomy research was truly like, and throughout this process, I got to understand what astronomy, and scientific research as a whole, can look like.

AAS - 2023

Quotes

Related Teams