A conference in sunny, summery, San Diego will be held in June 18-22, 2017. It is co-chaired by Michael Fitzgerald, the lead investigator in Our Solar Siblings!

Robotic Telescopes, Student Research and Education Conference (RTSRE)

The conference will be attended by many of the people (teachers, students, education researchers, scientists and technicans amongst others) around the world who are working on how to encourage teacher and student research and education using the robotic telescopes now available for free to for minimal cost. A brochure outlining the conference is available from this link.

The Robotic Telescopes, Student Research and Education: Past, Present, Future conference will focus on the use of remotely-located, relatively small, typically optical robotic telescopes to support, promote and drive research undertaken by high school and undergraduate students for scientific research as well as educational outcomes and uses.

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The conference will aim to tie diverse strands into a coherent story of where we have been (the past), where we are now (the present), and outline the pathways and challenges going forward (the future). In doing so, we endeavor to provide a synthesis of the relatively disconnected communities surrounding remote and robotic telescopes, scientific research, and astronomy education to provide a global picture of the field in its current state.

It is hoped that once we all get together and discuss our various endeavours and approaches we may be able to achieve a better understanding of how we can improve Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education for the better using these telescopes…. especially after some very disappointing news about Australia’s science performance in PISA and TIMMS. Wish us luck! Or even better….. consider attending!