Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association’s National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates Intern Kiana Burton Wins Prestigious Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Award

Website Editor • March 26, 2021

The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) is delighted to announce that summer 2020 National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) intern, Kiana Burton, has won the prestigious Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award for her research presentation at the recent virtual meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Burton is one of fifteen winners, out of the 170 undergraduates who entered the competition. Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the meeting took place entirely online. Burton gave a poster presentation titled “First Millimeter Flares Detected From Epsilon Eridani With ALMA” and answered audience questions on her research. 


Burton’s research focused on searching for highly energetic flares from a nearby star called Epsilon Eridani. Searching for and studying stellar flares is vital for understanding how they might impact any potential life on exoplanets in orbit around the star. Burton’s research mentor, Dr. Meredith MacGregor of the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Maria Mitchell Observatory (MMO) NSF-REU alumna herself, said, “Energy from stars can ionize and even erode the atmosphere of a planet, turning a habitable world into a barren wasteland. Kiana has been working to understand how this happens in order to help us figure out how many worlds could be affected.”



MMO director Dr. Regina Jorgenson remarked, “It was a joy to work with Kiana last summer. Even though we ran the program remotely due to the Pandemic travel restrictions, Kiana and the other interns worked very hard on their research projects. I couldn’t be happier and more honored to have had the opportunity to work with this amazing group of young scholars.” 


Burton, who is majoring in physics, is currently in her senior year at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the fall, Burton will begin her graduate studies, pursuing a Ph.D. in astrophysics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Burton was also recently awarded an Honorable Mention in the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.


Asked about her experience as an NSF-REU intern at the MMA, Burton said, “My time as an REU student with the Maria Mitchell Association allowed me to participate in really exciting research which I presented at the AAS meeting. I was grateful for the opportunity to attend the meeting and really excited to be awarded the Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award.” 


Reflecting on the mentoring aspect of the MMO program, Dr. MacGregor said, "The Maria Mitchell Association’s NSF-REU program was my first experience in astronomy research and played a critical role in my career. It has been a tremendous joy to work with the program again as a mentor. Kiana's work over the last year has led to new discoveries and improved our understanding of stellar flares. I'm excited to see where her career takes her as she starts graduate school!"


Burton’s award marks the fifth Chambliss Award to be won by an MMO NSF-REU intern over the past six years.


AAS Press Release:

https://aas.org/posts/news/2021/02/chambliss-student-poster-awards-aas-237


General AAS Chambliss Site:

https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/chambliss-astronomy-achievement-student-awards


The Maria Mitchell Association is a private non-profit organization. Founded in 1902, the MMA works to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages.

For Immediate Release

March 26, 2021

Contact: Kelly Bernatzky, MMA Development Associate

kbernatzky@mariamitchell.org

Recent Posts

The Work Begins

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • July 14, 2025
As we are now complete with the conservation of the historic Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory (MMO), I thought it would be good to post a series of blogs concerning it history and activities, as well as some of the remarkable people who have made it what it is over the last 100 plus years. Therefore, over the next few weeks, the focus will be on the MMO. And it is now open for tours – Monday through Saturday 11-1PM. In 1906, the MMA was given Maria Mitchell’s five-inch Alvan Clark telescope which Mitchell purchased with money raised by the Women of America in 1859. With the telescope, a fireproof observatory was needed to house it and the activities surrounding its use. A campaign was developed to raise the funds for an observatory and in approximately four months, a small observatory was built at a cost of $4,800.00. Completed in 1908, the Maria Mitchell Observatory now was in need of a permanent astronomer. An Observatory Committee was developed and chaired by Annie Jump Cannon. From 1909 through 1911, the MMA was able to employ an astronomer to teach classes, observe, provide lectures, and open the observatory for public observing for approximately a month each summer. As the demand grew, the MMA realized that a more extensive program was needed and the Astronomical Fellowship Committee began to raise funds for an Astronomical Fellowship Fund. With the support of many generous donors and a matching gift from Andrew Carnegie, by 1911 the MMA had the funds it needed to support the fellowship and began its search for an astronomer who would conduct research, provide lectures and classes, and conduct open nights for the public from mid-June through mid-December. The fellow would spend the remainder four months in research and study – every fourth year a full year of study would be spent in an American or European observatory. JNLF

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • July 7, 2025
July 31, 1883. I had two or three rich days! On Friday last I went to Holderness, N.H.. to the Asquam House; I had been asked by Mrs. T to join her party. There was at this house Mr. Whittier, Mr., and Mrs. Cartland, Professor and Mrs. Johnson, of Yale . . . The house seemed full of fine, cultivate people. We stayed two days and a half. And first of the scenery. The road up to the house is a steep hill, and at the foot of the hill it winds and turns around two lakes. The panorama is complete one hundred and eighty degrees. Beyond the lakes lie the mountains.  The Asquam House sat atop Shepard Hill and was built in 1881. A hotel, it has space for fifty guests, it was located near Squam Lake and became part of a summer enclave that developed there in the later part of the nineteenth century. Today, the area is a National Historic Landmark, but sadly, the hotel was demolished in 1948. Maria would have been familiar with these people seen here – and others I did not include – but particularly John Greenleaf Whittier who was something of a family friend. He was close to one of her younger brothers, William Forester. JNLF

Keep Calm and Bird On: July 2025

July 1, 2025
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.” -Edith Andrews
Show More