1. tune in to the Universe. The Education and Public Outreach staff at NRAO serve the scientific community, teachers and students and the general public within the NRAO mission to foster discovery and communicate those discoveries to the public. Here’s a summary of our programs. As a national research center, the NRAO is uniquely qualified to influence science- teaching practice by involving teachers in real-world research experiences. NRAO hosts:  NRAO/NASA Astronomy Institute for 20 K–12 teachers, 1-week summer residency  Chautauqua Program for 40 undergraduate faculty, 3-day summer residency  Master of Science Teaching Class for 10 K-12 teachers, 2-week summer residency.  Research Experience for Teachers for 2 - 4 high school science & math teachers, 8-week summer residency.  Sister Cities Program, a cultural exchange program for teachers in Magdalena, NM and San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. For more information: http://www.nrao.edu/students/ Our goal is to improve the visibility and impact of NRAO and radio astronomy in the scientific community. Toward that goal, we:  Exhibit at National and International meetings.  Expand access to NRAO instruments through regular summer schools for astronomers and their students.  Publish a quarterly NRAO newsletter. http://www.nrao.edu/news/newsletters/  Assist scientists in writing press releases to publicize their discoveries. http://www.nrao.edu/pr/  Conduct a yearly NRAO image contest to encourage the community to produce and submit visually compelling images. http://www.nrao.edu/imagegallery/image_contest/ Press Release: “Astronomers Find Enormous Hole in the Universe” At right, above: Pre-service teachers form a pyramid in front of the 40 Foot Telescope in Green Bank. At right, below: Teachers in New Mexico build and test a working model radio telescope.

2. Programs for middle school and high school students seek to engage their interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers before they have made key academic or career decisions. Programs include:  WV Governor’s School for Math and Science for 60 rising 9th grade students, 2-week summer residency  Gaining Early Awareness & Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) for 20 rising 9th grade students, 1-week summer residency.  Quiet Skies Classroom Kits enable students to investigate, measure and report Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) data to the NRAO. For more information see: http://www.gb.nrao.edu/epo/students/ Through programs for graduate and undergraduate students, NRAO helps train the next generation of scientists and engineers. Programs include:  Undergraduate Summer Student Research Assistantships--Partially funded by the NSF's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. Students spend the summer working with an NRAO advisor on a research project.  Graduate Student Research Assistantships--Open to graduate students who wish to spend the summer, semester or up to two years working with an NRAO advisor on a research project.  Co-op Program--Undergraduate engineering and computing students spend two or three semesters working with NRAO technical staff on a project at the forefront of technology.  Essential Radio Astronomy (ERA)--An on-line one-semester course intended for astronomy graduate students and advanced undergraduates with backgrounds in astronomy, physics, or engineering. See: http://www.nrao.edu/students/ The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.  Star Parties in Green Bank and Socorro which combine radio and optical astronomy.  Radio Astronomy programming on STScI’s ViewSpace exhibits in museums around the country. For more information see: http://www.gb.nrao.edu/gp/ or http://www.vla.nrao.edu  Cosmic Radio, 26 3-minute radio shows on radio astronomy distributed to NPR affiliated stations around the US.  Free public tours at the VLA and GBT. Last year, over 65,000 people visited.  NRAO Navigators program, training volunteers to deliver engaging presentations about the NRAO and radio astronomy in their communities. NRAO aims to increase public awareness of radio astronomy and the NRAO through a variety of programs: Public Tour at the VLA Tourists at Science Center in Green Bank WV Governor’s School students in front of the GBT