Astrobiology is the interdisciplinary study of life in the universe and touches on some of the most profound questions in both science and philosophy. How and when did life on Earth emerge from a ‘pool of organic molecules’? Is there life on Mars, extant or extinct? Could other bodies in the solar system harbor life, e.g. Enceladus, Titan and Europa? Do intelligent civilizations exist elsewhere in our galaxy? All of these questions – and many more – will be addressed in ISU’s 7th annual Astrobiology Elective (April 11-21, 2023).
The Elective will welcome some of the finest Astrobiologists in the world, e.g. Dr. Christopher P. McKay (NASA Ames Research Center), Dr. Frances Westall (Director Emeritus of the CNRS Exobiology Group, Orléans) and Dr. Joseph A. Nuth, III (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center).
The program will highlight current and future astrobiology missions, e.g. Martian rovers such as Perseverance and its successors. The Elective will consist of presentations, roundtable discussions, workshops, and a field trip devoted to collecting and analyzing magnetotactic bacteria.
The single deliverable will be a group White Paper, of which there will be four offered. In the past, they have included topics such as, “The potential of the Canadian Arctic for Astrobiology research”, and “Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a Biomarker for the Astrobiology Community”.
