Buell Jannuzi
Every summer KPNO is fortunate to have a group of talented college students come to Tucson to participate in astronomical research under the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program. The program provides an exceptional opportunity for undergraduates considering a career in science to engage in substantive research activities with scientists working in the forefront of contemporary astrophysics. Each REU student is hired as a full-time research assistant to work on specific aspects of major on-going research projects at KPNO. As part of their research activities, REU students gain experience with KPNO's telescopes and develop expertise in astronomical data reduction and analysis.
During the summer of 1999, nine students participated in the KPNO REU program and worked on a wide range of topics. In addition, they participated in a weekly lecture series, several observing runs with telescopes on Kitt Peak, and a "field trip" to visit both NRAO's VLA and NSO's Sacramento Peak Observatory.
At the end of the summer, the students shared their results with the Tucson astronomical community by giving oral presentations describing their research. Most of these students will be attending the January 2000 AAS meeting in Atlanta thanks to the REU program, and we encourage you to stop by their posters and attend their talks. Their end-of-summer presentations and advisors are listed below:
Jacqueline Chen (Yale University): "A Survey for Dwarf Galaxies in the NGC 3109/Antlia Group," Taft Armandroff & George Jacoby
Robert Comstock (Central Washington University): "Constraining Observational Interpretation of Cometary Rotational States Using Numerical Simulations," Nalin Samarasinha & Beatrice Muller
Aaron Einbond (Harvard University): "Stellar Kinematics of the Outer Spiral Arm of the Galaxy," James Rhoads
Cynthia Gomez-Martin (University of South Florida): "Understanding the Evolutionary History of the Draco Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy," Ken Mighell
Benjamin Jones (University of Utah): "Paschen- and H-
Line Emission and
Extinction Maps of Four Galaxies," Sangeeta Malhotra
Proteep Mallik(University of Oregon): "Reexamining Variables in M3," Abi Saha (Mr. Mallik Participated in the REU program activities, but was funded from an alternative source of non-NSF funds.)
Nick Mostek (Iowa State University): "New M31 Globular Clusters and IR Data Reduction," Jay Elias
Rachel Parks (North Park University): "Investigation of Optimal Aperture Size for the Next Generation Optical Spectrograph," Sam Barden
Felicia Tam (Stanford University): "Radio Sources in the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey," Arjun Dey and Buell Jannuzi
We expect to be able to have six REU positions available for the summer of 2000. Participants must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States. The positions are full-time for 10 to 12 weeks between May and September, with a preferred starting data no later than early June. A salary of $345 per week and funds to cover travel to and from Tucson are provided. Completed applications including applicant information, official transcripts, and letters of recommendation are to be submitted KPNO no later than 21 January 2000. Additional information and application forms are available from http://www.noao.edu/kpno/reu.