Astrobiology Graduate Student Conference (AbGradCon) 2004
January 7-10, 2004

Webcast Information

The purpose of this conference is to bring together graduate students from many areas of expertise (astronomy, oceanography, planetary science, chemistry, climatology, astrogeopaleobiochemistry, etc) to discuss their work and how it relates to these fundamental questions regarding life in the universe.

• How/when did life arise on Earth?
  
• What diversity of environments can support life, and what mechanisms allow life to inhabit these environments?
  
• What are the implications for life on other planets?
• How can we go about detecting life on other planets?
• What are the prospects for finding Earthlike planets, and possibly Earthlike life, including advanced lifeforms and civilizations?

The conference will include 3-4 sessions focusing on different general aspects of astrobiology (e.g., space sciences, "extreme" biology, history of life/climate on Earth). Each session will consist of an introduction to the topic by a single speaker, followed by parallel sessions of shorter talks on individual research projects.

We are also planning:

1. a field trip to Kitt Peak for telescope tours and night eyepiece observing,
2. a tour of the Steward Observatory mirror lab,
3. four (parallel) panel discussions that will produce brief written reports to the NAI on the state of graduate education in astrobiology. All registrants will be asked to participate in one of these panels,
4. a hiking trip in the foothills,
5. our own ABGradCon 2004 T-shirt for sale ($10),
6. opportunities for evenings out in downtown Tucson where there is never a dull moment.

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