{"606738":{"#nid":"606738","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Early-Career Astrobiologists Gather for AbGradCon 2018 ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Ph.D. students and postdocs host AbGradCon 2018 this week. AbGradCon stands for Astrobiology Graduate Conference. The popular gathering provides a unique setting for attendees to share research, collaborate, and network.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe meeting is for and by early-career scientists addressing the broad questions of astrobiology: How did life start? Where else does life exist? How could humans search for life outside Earth?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAbGradCon 2018 brings to the fore Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s standing in astrobiology research and education. Georgia Tech leads in training scientists who will direct space exploration in the 21st\u0026nbsp;century.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOrganizers\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/tan\/george\u0022\u003EGeorge Tan\u003C\/a\u003E chairs the organizing committee. He is a Ph.D. student of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/stockton\/amanda\u0022\u003EAmanda Stockton\u003C\/a\u003E, in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Working with Tan \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/605662\u0022\u003Ewere more than a dozen other Ph.D. students or postdoctoral researchers\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOrganizers expect 96 attendees: 72 from the U.S. and 24 from overseas, Tan says. They come from nine countries: Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, United Kingdom, and United States. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe program includes \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/605983\u0022\u003Ean evening for the public\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;which features \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/606321\u0022\u003EAstronaut Lawrence DeLucas\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We have a big astrobiology community at Tech. This is the perfect opportunity for us to network with students and postdocs with similar interests. I also learned a lot about planning conferences,\u0026rdquo; says \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ww2.chemistry.gatech.edu\/hud\/adriana-lozoya\u0022\u003EAdriana Lozoya\u003C\/a\u003E. She is a Ph.D. student of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/faculty\/hud\/\u0022\u003ENicholas Hud\u003C\/a\u003E, in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Hud is also a member of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/petitinstitute.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\u0022\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/a\u003E (IBB).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s been a great experience getting all the moving parts to work to make this conference exciting and worthwhile for all attendees,\u0026rdquo; says \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.jenniferglass.com\/Jennifer_Glass\/Group.html\u0022\u003EMarcus Bray\u003C\/a\u003E. He is a Ph.D. student of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eas.gatech.edu\/people\/glass-dr-jennifer\u0022\u003EJennifer Glass\u003C\/a\u003E, in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Glass is also an IBB member.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFunding\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMajor funding for the meeting came from the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/nai.nasa.gov\/\u0022\u003ENASA Astrobiology Institute\u003C\/a\u003E. Other sponsors are:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/journal\/aesccq\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EACS Earth and Space Chemistry\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/en\/\u0022\u003EEarth-Life Science Institute\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/astrobiology.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Astrobiology\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/605662\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech College of Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ien.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.templeton.org\/\u0022\u003EJohn Templeton Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/\u0022\u003ENature Publishing Group\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.simonsfoundation.org\/\u0022\u003ESimons Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We can\u0026rsquo;t thank our sponsors enough,\u0026rdquo; Tan says. \u0026ldquo;Their generosity markedly enhanced our ability to prepare the best possible program and accommodate close to a hundred participants.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I look forward to the many informal discussions over the week,\u0026rdquo; says \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/wilsonresearchgroup.lbl.gov\/directory\/meet-the-team\/rebecca-rapf\u0022\u003ERebecca Rapf\u003C\/a\u003E. She is a postdoctoral researcher with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/commons.lbl.gov\/display\/csd\/Kevin+R.+Wilson\u0022\u003EKevin Wilson\u003C\/a\u003E at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. \u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m sure they will lead to productive collaborations and long-term friendships with people who will be our peers throughout our careers.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Meeting brings to the fore Georgia Tech\u2019s leadership in astrobiology research and education"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Ph.D. students and postdocs host AbGradCon 2018 on June 4-8, 2018. The annual Astrobiology Graduate Conference provides a unique setting for graduate students and early-career scientists to share their research, collaborate, and network.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"AbGradCon 2018 showcases Georgia Tech\u2019s leadership in astrobiology research and education."}],"uid":"30678","created_gmt":"2018-06-04 16:37:24","changed_gmt":"2018-06-05 17:12:08","author":"A. Maureen Rouhi","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-06-04T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-06-04T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"606755":{"id":"606755","type":"image","title":"From left: Marcus Bray, Rebecca Rapf, George Tan, Adriana Lozoya (Photo by Renay San Miguel)","body":null,"created":"1528218614","gmt_created":"2018-06-05 17:10:14","changed":"1528218614","gmt_changed":"2018-06-05 17:10:14","alt":"","file":{"fid":"231419","name":"2018 AbGradCon 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Maureen Rouhi, Ph.D.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}