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AAS - 2012

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 2011 and 2012 NITARP teams attended the 2012 January AAS meeting in Austin, TX. The 2011 class was presenting results and the 2012 class was starting up. We sent about 60 people to the AAS (the largest delegation to date) and had a grand time. Please see the special article on NITARP at the AAS. We also got a smattering of coverage in local media outlets.

Quotes

  • It was amazing being, not just an attendee of the conference, but a real part of it through the poster presentations. Thank you for this invaluable opportunity and insight into how real science is conducted and shared by the scientific community. Astronomy, as is any branch of science, is such a diverse field with many discoveries yet to be made. It was truly an honor to be a part of the NITARP program.
  • Astronomers are a remarkably collaborative lot. I knew this, but I was amazed by how friendly everyone was.
  • [student:] I came to appreciate the fact that there will always be someone smarter than I am, and that's okay because I can learn from them. I also came to appreciate the ability of good public speaking.
  • I think that the most surprising thing about it was how young everyone was! I absolutely did not expect that, maybe because the amateur community is so much older by comparison, and is mainly composed of retired people.
  • My general impression is how big and varied the whole conference was. I knew the number coming in - but sometimes our imagination fails us. To see all the posters, papers, booths, and talks was truly astonishing.

Related Teams

AAS - 2012