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

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • May 4, 2026
May 6, 1878 Between the clouds, Miss Spalding obtained 7 photographs of Mercury on the Sun. It is comfort to me to be able to plan and do a new kind of work. The large telescope worked better than usual, Clark having just been to the Observatory. Clark, as in Alvan Clark, a man who would become the premier telescope maker in America and who built Maria Mitchell’s 5-inch Alvan Clark refractor that she purchased from him (after working with him to build it per her specifications) with money gifted to her from “The Women of America” led by Elizabeth Peabody. More than likely, it is this telescope she is referring to as she did use it in the Vassar College Observatory with her students – and it is also taking center stage in photographs, along with her (first her father’s) Dolland telescope.  Maria had decided she would photograph the Sun on every clear day, and this was one of those results. She would use these images, with her students, to study sun spots and their changes. With her students, Maria would photograph the transit of Mercury as noted above. She would also photograph the transit of Venus a few years later with her students. JNLF

Spring Has Sprung!

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • April 27, 2026
And with it, some of the heirloom daffodils I purchased for the Mitchell House last fall. A place was recommended to me by two longtime friends of the MMA and gardeners extraordinaire. It is called Old House Gardens. I ordered a small amount as we now have a plethora of voles on Vestal Street – I believe I complained about them here last year. They won’t eat daffodils so I got a few of “Butter and Eggs” (1777) and “Conspicuus” (1869) as either of these could have appeared in William Mitchell’s gardens. They were not listed in a letter from John Quincy Adams that I have mentioned before. But, Adams was not here visiting the Mitchell family when the daffodils would have been in bloom. The one pictured here is “Butter and Eggs” not completely unfurled. JNLF

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • April 13, 2026
April 1878. The conference of Woman’s Congress officers met in Washington. Because we had one member in Washington we were invited to meet in that place. I went on at a great expense of time, money and strength . . . . We were in session at least nine hours. I think that more than half of that was used by Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Sayles. The only motion which I carried through was to pay the Secretary $200 . . . In 1878, that was a long train(s) ride to Washington, DC from Poughkeepsie, NY and Vassar College. If Maria seems perturbed, I am sure she was. As president of the Association for the Advancement of Women, and thus the Congress, she had to be at the meeting. But it appears she did not get much say in the nine hour meeting. This was also a long trip to take when she had another, even longer trip coming up in July of 1878. In that month, she would travel with students and her sister, Phebe, out west to Colorado to view the eclipse and that train and wagon ride I am sure was weighing on her mind – not just the physical trip but making her way for an important eclipse viewing event. JNLF
Show More