Fernanda Gonzalez
UTRGV and Texas Southmost College have secured a grant for $230,000 from the National Science Foundation for astronomical research.
Texas Southmost College physics instructor and co-primary investigator on the project, Mr. Robert Stone, says that one of the highlights of the project is encouraging students to go into STEM fields.
“One of the biggest highlights of the grant for us is the opportunity for TSC students to get involved with research at the Cristina Torres Memorial Observatory, that’s the most exciting part for us.” Stone said. “We have a lot of students that we want to encourage to stay in the STEM field, and it’s been shown that getting students involved in research early is one of the best ways to keep students focused on STEM.”
Martha Casquette, another TSC faculty member in physics and co-primary investigator, elaborated on the importance of mentorship.
“Besides the research that the students need to do, there will also be an interaction with our student.” Casquette said.“Research has shown that when students receive mentorship, not only do they get skills, but they also, we happen to continue in the STEM field. What happens is that some of them get discouraged.”
First- and second-year Texas Southmost College students will work alongside UTRGV graduate students. One of the goals of this partnership is to help graduate students build leadership skills.
Principal investigator on the project, Dr. Mario Diaz, who is also the director of UTRGV’s Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy said that students are going to gain a lot of experience with the help of the resources that UTRGV will provide.
“We are going to concentrate on the optical aspect.” Diaz said. “We’ve focused on using optical telescopes, in particular we have one the Resaca La Palma state park, a UTRGV astronomical observatory [Cristina Torres Memorial Observatory].”
He said that the mentors will train the students in observing. Students will also have the opportunity to see a control room, learn how to operate telescopes, and how to measure the positions of objects in the sky.
Students will also:
1) Attend weekly scheduled meetings with UTRGV mentors, graduate students, the principal investigator and TSC student and faculty.
2) A summer workshop for the training of students in photometry, astrometry, observational techniques, and python coding in astronomy.
3) Observations at the UTRGV operated Cristina Torres Memorial Astronomical Observatory (CTMO).
4) Regular seminar in astronomy and astrophysics topics.
5) Regional meetings from participating students annually.
Casquette explained that students will participate in outreach to the broader RGV community, with help of the South Texas Astronomical Society, spreading science knowledge throughout the RGV.
“So their knowledge is going to be transmitted to the general public,” she said. “They are going to be helping, letting them know what is astronomy. Science, more than anything, what is science? Why do we get excited for science?”
This is Fernanda Gonzalez for Vaquero Radio.
