The Undergraduate ALFALFA Team

Georgia Southern University Research And Service Foundation, Inc, Statesboro GA

Investigators

Abstract

In this collaborative effort, Drs. Rebecca Koopmann (Union College), Sarah Higdon (Georgia Southern University), Thomas Balonek (Colgate University), and members of their consortium team will carry out an array of activities directed toward involving undergraduate students in real-world, cutting-edge research projects to collect, analyze, and, in some cases, publish data from the ALFALFA (The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey, where ALFA is an acronym for the Arecibo L-band Feed Array project. ALFALFA is large survey for neutral hydrogen in galaxies external to the Milky Way being carried out using the seven-beam ALFA receiver on the Arecibo Observatory radio telescope. ALFALFA is expected to detect over 20,000 galaxies over the next five years, resulting in a wide range of scientific applications. The program has four components: 1) An annual undergraduate ALFALFA team workshop will be held at Arecibo that will introduce students to the ALFA project and communicate science programs and observing and data analysis techniques; 2) Students, with the help of faculty mentors, will develop their own research programs and do their own observing using Arecibo, the world''s largest telescope; 3) Computer infrastructure for data analysis will be provided to smaller schools; and 4) Summer research positions will be provided to students on a competitive basis to help keep them on a science track. The program will have wide impact at 14 universities belonging to the Undergraduate ALFALFA Team consortium. The program will advance discovery and promote learning among undergraduate and graduate students in a diverse array of university settings, both public and private, across the country. All team members will participate in the annual workshops and will be encouraged to present their results at scientific meetings. Infrastructure for research and education will be promoted via the collaboration between students and faculty and the observatory, which will stimulate undergraduate research at the smaller colleges. Curricular and outreach material for both undergraduate and K-12 application, developed at the participating institutions and in collaboration with the Director of the Angel Ramos Visitor Center at Arecibo, will be made publicly available. Women comprise a large fraction of the faculty involved in the program.