Astrobiological Society gets grant from NASA

By Mary Trahan
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
[email protected]

How does life begin and evolve? Is there life elsewhere? What is
the future of life on Earth and possibly beyond?

These are the questions that make up the platform for the
emerging science of astrobiology, and UCLA students are at its
academic forefront. The UCLA Astrobiological Society, an
organization made up of students with all types of majors, has
recently received a $5,000 grant from NASA to commission the
Pathfinder Project, a scientific outreach program to promote this
new field of study.

The main goal of the project is to create a national, Web-based
astrobiology database that can be accessed by students throughout
the country.

The astrobiological society’s researchers were hired by
NASA to investigate what sort of astrobiology classes currently
exist in the high schools and colleges, to establish internships
and job opportunities, and to gather information from leading
astrobiologists.

Created in 1998, the same year as the NASA Astrobiology
Institute (NAI), the UCLA Astrobiology Society is favored by NASA,
who hopes to see similar clubs spring up on other campuses.

The society recently came back from a conference at NASA’s
Ames Research Center, located at Moffett Field, San Jose’s
defunct naval base.

The astrobiology society at UCLA is partially sponsored by the
NAI. Ten people from the club went to San Jose to represent
UCLA.

The ten UCLA students, who are officers in the club, were the
only undergraduates in the entire conference, said Lila Farrington,
historian of the club.

The bulk of the conference was made up of grad students,
professors and scientists and a plethora of speakers.

World-famous scientists with whom the UCLA students hob-knobbed
included Dr. Baruch Blumberg, the director of NAI who won the Nobel
Prize for the discovery of a Hepatitis B vaccine. To rub elbows
with such influential keynote speakers inspired students, said
Farrington.

Farrington connected the conference’s importance with the
roots of the Pathfinder Project.

“The main focus of the conference was how we can publicize
this field in the high school system,” she said. “How
will we teach it? What should we cover? … We feel people will
gravitate toward the field once they know it’s
there.”

Farrington said the founders of the society, Jason Finley and
Laurel Methot, both fourth-year UCLA students, became interested
after taking a GE cluster on the evolution of the cosmos and
life.

The society holds three to four meetings per quarter, where they
discuss the nature and possibilities of foreign life, as well as
introduce speakers and stage demonstrations.

“It’s a cool topic because astrobiology is a fusion
of all different types of science,” Farrington said.

NASA is currently in partnership with 15 other research
institutes, two thirds of which are universities. But the society
is not only about research conferences and grants. Once a quarter
they have a sci-fi night, where members show up dressed as aliens
and sci-fi characters, and they also have stargazing camping
trips.

Farrington encourages others to explore the nature of the club.
“Science is all about trying to come up with something new,
and then having half the world trying to prove you wrong,”
said Farrington.

This challenge is one that the UCLA Astrobiology Society prides
itself on meeting head-on.