New York Center for Astrobiology: Highlights for 2011

Based within the School of Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., the New York Center for Astrobiology is devoted to investigating the origins of life on Earth and the conditions that lead to formation of habitable planets in our own and other solar systems.

Supported by NASA, the Center is a member of NASA’s Astrobiology Institute (NAI), and is a partnership between Rensselaer and the University at Albany, Syracuse University, the University of Arizona, and the University of North Dakota.

Researchers and students within the Center seek to understand the chemical, physical, and geological conditions of early Earth that set the stage for life on our planet. They also look beyond our home planet to investigate whether the processes that prepared the Earth for life could be replicated elsewhere — on Mars and other bodies in our solar system, for example, and on planets orbiting other stars.

A major research activity in the Center will be to search for Martian “biosignatures”, i.e., new ways of detecting evidence of current or past life on Mars.

The Center hosts a weekly Origins of Life Seminar Series in the Fall and Spring Semesters, which is open to the public. Click here for schedule. Presenters include guest speakers, faculty, postdoctoral researchers and students associated with the Center.

Opening Ceremonies on November 24, 2008 (Webcast)