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May 2023 updates for Ms. Sperling

Published: May 23, 2023

Ms. Sperling writes:

I finished an EdD this winter and I did my dissertation in STEM/ engineering education for girls and underrepresented minorities. I’m back to teaching high school and now on Devil Dragon Balloon Team for the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project so my students and I will be launching high-altitude balloons into the next two eclipses. We’re also returning to present at this winter’s AAS - inspired by my time in NITARP.

If it wasn’t for NITARP, I wouldn’t have done any of this! Doing NITARP gave me a firsthand look into research that gave me the confidence to go back for another graduate degree. NITARP also pushed me to do more with academic writing/ conferences and that was a first step to realizing that I wanted to present at conferences and apply for grants (I’ve done a number in the years since). The people I met through NITARP introduced me to ballooning and encouraged me to try it in my classroom. I also talk to the members of team cosmic dIRt regularly (one at least weekly) and they are still my most important professional network.  Yay NITARP!

We're back from the Jan 2024 AAS and we had a grand time!