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

I have always felt that astronomers were able to make sense of things not always tangible, but now I realize what deep visions they have and their great dedication.
I think even more important than my learning, was the impact it had on the student I worked with. I think the entire experience showed him what it really means to collaborate and work hard and persevere. You just can’t give students an authentic real world experience in a classroom. Participating in NITARP was as “real-world” as it gets, and I think he came away from this experience with a new appreciation for what it takes to do real science and work in a group.
Why can't teachers go to conferences more often? Educators need support to gain experience and pass that experience on!
I enjoyed the process of original, authentic research. It was exciting to not know the answer: I was eager to see where the process took us and what we would find in the end. It was also cool to realize that I was helping to add a very tiny bit to the pile of human knowledge, that, somewhat in the words of Whitman, “the powerful play goes on, and I can contribute a (very tiny) verse”.
For the NITARP team: thank you for putting this together and thank you for your patience and time, year after year. I’m sure there are many other things you could do with your time, but I’m grateful you spent it with us.

AAS - 2023

Quotes

Related Teams