• NASA
  • IPAC

AAS - 2024

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 2023 and 2024 NITARP teams attended the 2024 January AAS meeting in New Orleans, LA. The 2023 class was presenting results and the 2024 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 press release on NITARP from the AAS, and the special online article about NITARP at the AAS. All of the posters we presented are here. (In addition to the iPoster sessions as listed here, the physical versions of the 2023 teams' posters were up at the IPAC booth all day Tuesday.)

2023 teams:

Alumni:

  • 167.01 Sperling et al., Student-Led High Altitude Ballooning into Solar Eclipses (Monday 5:30-6:30)
  • 171.03 Rebull et al., NITARP Lesson Plans: Bite-Size Pieces of Authentic Science Research Experiences (Monday 5:30-6:30)
  • 171.06 Newland, Using Google Colab to Teach Hubble-Lemaitre's Law with BOSS Data (Monday 5:30-6:30)
  • 176.02 Rebull et al., Young Stellar Object Candidates in IC 417 (Monday 5:30-6:30)
  • 203.03 Wojciak et al., Exploring Color-Magnitude Relationships Among Quasars with z between 1.5-1.75 (Tuesday 9-10)
  • 458.21 Jones & Rutherford, The Three-Dimensional Structure of IC 2391 (Thursday 1-2)

Quotes

  • This experience has made me realize that anyone can participate in astronomy research and that even amateur astronomers are an important part of scientific discovery and research. I've always had the thought that astronomers need to be masters at physics and math, and that's true to an extent. However, there are ways to "do astronomy" without having a PhD in it.
  • I’m experiencing an excitement for science that I haven’t had for several years – it has positively affected my teaching and professional development. Over the course of the program I have seen a similar growing level of excitement in the students I am working with.
  • [student: Now, after NITARP,] I am a lot more collaborative and open to working with people I don’t know as well. Additionally, I feel a lot more confident asking questions (especially in my science classes), as I’ve gotten to experience first-hand the value of engaging my curiosity in topics I’m interested in.
  • I am a huge fan of the “NITARP Process,” which in my mind, means to conduct a difficult scientific research project and learn as much as possible in the process under the guidance of a mentor. I conduct my scientific research course this way, and while it is initially a challenge for students, they have life-changing experiences by essentially muscling through those challenges. If anything, this NITARP experience has reinforced my use of the NITARP Process” in my classroom.
  • [student:] I have experienced so many unique things that I literally blew my mind and created a spark in me. I now know that I want to be in the field of astronomy. I have learned so many research, time management, and teamwork skills that will still be with me for my whole life. Overall, NITARP has changed the way I look at the world in terms of science and lit a fire inside of me. It has been an experience that I will stick with forever.

Related Teams

AAS - 2024