February-May 2009 updates for NITARP
Published: May 15, 2009
- Four Spitzer students won first place awards at their regional science fairs and qualified to present their Spitzer work at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Reno, Nevada. More than 1,500 students from 56 countries, regions and territories competed at the Science Fair this year. One student, Jennifer Butchart, placed fourth in the Physics and Astronomy division.
- Tim Spuck's student Jennifer Butchart was one of only three students from the nearly 300 that competed in the senior division of the 70th Annual Pittsburgh Regional Science & Engineering Fair (PRSEF) to earn a spot at the International Science & Engineering Fair in Reno Nevada. Jennifer's project was on Identifying T-Tauri Stars Using Small-scale Optical Telescopes. She was also awarded 1st place in the PRSEF Earth/Space/Environment Senior Division, a Best of Show Award from the US Army, as well as a Sponsor Award. Jennifer Butchart took a 4th place in Physics & Astronomy at the International Science & Engineering Fair. The 4th place comes with a $500 cash award and the prestige of placing at the world's largest science competition. Her research project also won an honorable mention from the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Physical Society.
- Three of Cris DeWolf's students, Justin Boerma, Stephen Brock, and Trevor DeWolf, completed a project that looked more closely at LDN 981 to determine if it had ongoing star formation. Their project, Star Formation in Isolated Dark Nebulae: YSOs in LDN 981, was entered in the MOISD Regional Science & Engineering Fair in March. They won Top Team and competed at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Reno, Nevada, in May. Their paper (of the same title) was submitted for publication in the 2009 RBSE Journal. In addition all three students received an "Award of Excellence" from the Michigan Earth Science Teachers Association for High Achievement in the Earth & Space Sciences and for the top Earth & Space related project.
- Tim Spuck's student Rachele Siegel presented her research titled Investigating Star Formation in LDN 981 at the Pittsburgh Regional Science & Engineering Fair. For her outstanding work she was awarded a Science Achievement Scholarship totaling $8,000 from Waynesburg University. In addition Siegel also received the Mu Alpha Theta Award from the National Mathematics Honor Society for the most challenging, original, thorough and creative investigation.
- Jeff Adkins' student Ame Bartlebaugh entered the Contra Costa County Science and Engineering Fair with her project that attempted to look at the size of the dust shell surrounding NGC 4051 using only the ground-based data. She won a 3rd place in her category.
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