Orange County Astronomers, Orange, California
Community College, General Public: Amateur
Mr. Butler is the first amateur astronomer to be included in NITARP. As a non-traditional educator interacting with the public through efforts with the Orange County Astronomers, he reaches a different group of people than might be reached through high school teachers in the classroom.
Many NITARP alumni helped us out with reviewing the NITARP 2016 proposals! Scientists who helped include Chris Gelino, Patrick Lowrance, Rafael Millan-Gabet, Charles Steinhardt, and Sean Carey. Thanks to all!
Both NITARP 2014 teams submitted research proposals. Several NITARP alumni helped review them.
All four main NITARP 2013 teams submitted research proposals. Several NITARP alumni helped review them.
We are officially announcing our 2011 class! Here they all are.
I have begun to grasp the mind-boggling amount of data being produced by this [astronomical] infrastructure.
What I really appreciated was the incredible spirit of cooperation and willingness [at the AAS] to assist a novice researcher like myself. These people were all standing and listening to my brief presentation about our poster's highlights and findings because the subject matter was interesting to them or they were conducting research themselves in the same field of inquiry. It was truly surprising yet very exhilarating as I answered questions and then asked them about their research and how they tackled certain problems.
I did not anticipate the amount of people that were not "NITARP" but instead simply "fellow" astronomers and researchers that came by our team's poster to discuss our findings. That for me was [..] was a most pleasant surprise.
I felt as if I was on a treasure hunt to identify new methods of confirming redshift values for our candidate cluster members.
What an incredible feeling to be right there at the edge of discovery!
Words can't describe my delight and gratitude to NITARP for the "over the top" experience at AAS 217th convention in Seattle. The breadth of conveyed knowledge, the phenomenal networking, the latest science discoveries, the business and career opportunities and the educational options were astounding.
[...]Needless to say this was an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed both for its educational value but also it invigorated me to become part of the greater message, which is the story of space and ground based "observatories" and the incredible infrastructure built by NASA and its commercial and institutional partners. Never in the history of this great science has so much data and use of incredible instruments been available to not just the scientific community but the general public as well. All one has to do is just ask!
Words can't describe my delight and gratitude to NITARP for the "over the top" experience at AAS 217th convention in Seattle. The breadth of conveyed knowledge, the phenomenal networking, the latest science discoveries, the business and career opportunities and the educational options were astounding. I must say that I was fully engaged every moment that I was at the convention. As you said at our seminar on Sunday, "You will be over stimulated and under caffeinated." I realize exactly what [you] were talking about.
[...]..never have I attended an "industry" convention where the overall collaborative nature of the attendees is so strong. Everyone that I came in contact with was approachable and eager to answer questions or contribute some knowledge.