In its second year, the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates Program at CTIO brought four adventurous US college students to La Serena to join two Chilean undergraduates in work with myself and CTIO scientific staff from mid-January through March. This year's students and their research projects were:
Alex Athey (Pomona College) - "A Search for High-Redshift QSOs" (advisor Malcolm Smith)
Roger Leiton (Universidad de La Serena) - "The Changing Sky Brightness at Cerro Tololo" (advisor Mark Phillips)
Martin Osorio (Universidad de Chile) - "The Changing Sky Brightness at Cerro Tololo" (advisor Mark Phillips)
Jodi Schneider (St. John's College) - "A Look for LMC Cluster X-ray Sources" (advisor Eileen Friel)
Alejandro Soto (Dartmouth College) - "Integrated Properties of Milky Way Open Clusters" (advisor Eileen Friel)
S. Elizabeth Turner (Georgia Institute of Technology) - "Infrared Photometry of SN 1987A" (advisor Nick Suntzeff)
Besides working on their research projects, students had ample opportunity to observe--a primary component of the CTIO REU program. In addition to observing runs related to their own science, students helped with a variety of observing programs on all the CTIO telescopes. Athey and Turner, for example, lent their expertise to finding supernovae at the 4-m, contributing to several IAU telegrams during their stay. Several students became frequent observers at the Curtis Schmidt.
Other student activities included weekly scientific seminars for the students by CTIO and Las Campanas staff, a tour of the Gemini site on Cerro Pachon, and a trip to La Silla. Students sampled the Joint CTIO/ESO Workshop on the Galactic Center, and helped out with some of the meeting logistics along the way.
Working in Chile and gaining experience with the international astronomical community is an important part of the student experience, and the inclusion of two undergraduate students from Chile was a successful new feature of the program. Although not all US students have degree programs flexible enough to accommodate an academic term REU program, for those who are interested in a special opportunity to explore research in an observational and international environment, we offer a unique REU experience. Operating the program during the Chilean summer allows us to provide a rich scientific and educational program for both Chilean and US students.
Plans are underway for next year's program--look for announcements in future Newsletters. Or contact Eileen Friel (efriel@noao.edu) for more information. We are always looking for your best students!
Eileen Friel