Assistant Professor of Physics Chris Richardson was invited to Washington D.C. on behalf of the American Astronomical Society to advocate for astronomy in meetings with senators and representatives.
Chris Richardson, assistant professor of physics at Elon, recently visited Congress to advocate for astronomy on behalf of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) as part of the annual Congressional Visit Days event.
Richardson was selected along with 14 other astronomers nationwide to speak to their elected legislators as constituents about the importance of supporting astronomy in their respective states.
The staffers of Senator Richard Burr, Senator Thom Tillis and Representative Mark Walker met with Richardson and other constituents of North Carolina and South Carolina to discuss the impact of continued National Science Foundation and NASA funding and ensure that students at Elon will have access to the resources that will make them competitive in the workforce upon graduation.
In Richardson’s case, federal support of astronomy has allowed his research students to take part in research experiences for undergraduates at other institutions that teach them a skill set that they can use in a wide variety of careers. At Elon, Richardson relies on continued support from NSF-funded virtual environment known as XSEDE to teach students about supercomputing.
Overall, the experience was very fruitful and all of the legislators representing North Carolina showed support for future NASA and NSF endeavors.
The full press release from the AAS can be viewed here: https://aas.org/media/press-releases/aas-cvd-2018.