Member Research
As an important aspect of promoting faculty research in astrobiology, MIAC assists its members by providing information about access to opportunities to work with partners who have more sophisticated research labs.
The NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) Minority Institution Research Support (MIRS) program currently managed by Tennessee State University, a MIAC member, provides opportunities for researchers from qualified minority institutions to initiate joint partnerships with researchers in the field of astrobiology. The purpose of NAI-MIRS is to increase the attendance and participation of underrepresented scientists in astrobiology research laboratories, at professional conferences, and as members in NAI Teams.
For more details see the NAI-MIRS website.
Curriculum Development in Astrobiology
As part of the goal to develop astrobiology course work and educational outreach collaborative members are encouraged to include materials that have astrobiology as a theme in undergraduate courses for non-science majors. The collaborative provides a mechanism for sharing ideas on how to design courses that emphasize a constructivist approach and that promote inquiry-based methodology.
MIAC’s network of minority-serving institutions has joined a consortium NAI lead teams to develop a curriculum called Astrobiology In the Secondary Classrooms. This secondary curriculum is designed to share the excitement of NASA's research with middle and high school students. ASC seeks to enable middle and high school teachers across the US to include astrobiology-related activities in their classrooms, many of which contain high numbers of students historically underrepresented in the sciences.
NASA Astrobiology Institute Team Members
- NASA Goddard Center for Astrobiology
- Carnegie Institution of Washington: NASA Astrobiology Institute
- Indiana Princeton Tennessee Astrobiology Initiative
ASC will allow students and teachers to see the connections among concepts in physics, biology, chemistry, geoscience, astronomy, mathematics, and ethics through hands-on space science activities. The ASC development project began in 2004 and is now entering the pilot-testing phase via professional development workshops at minority institutions and other routes of dissemination. Click here to go to the ASC website.
Student Research and Presentation Opportunities
Members of the collaborative share information about opportunities for students to conduct or present their research in astrobiology.
Communication and the Collaborative Infrastructure
The formation of a learning community of scientists, college and university faculty, and students is essential to the success of MIAC. Because the virtual sites are spread across the United States and Puerto Rico a virtual community connects the stakeholders taking advantage of the powerful technological tools readily available to the members of the community.
The formation of the MIAC collaboratory reflects the spirit of astrobiology. According to the Astrobiology Roadmap, Astrobiology is multidisciplinary in its content and interdisciplinary in its execution. Its success depends critically upon the close coordination of diverse scientific disciplines and programs.
MIAC will serve as a model for scientific investigation in this emerging field. According to Kouzes, Myers, & Wulf (1996) a collaboratory is “a place where scientists and researchers work together to solve complex interdisciplinary problems, despite geographic and organizational boundaries.”
The MIAC Collaboratory will support the Learning Community linking them through a variety of online resources. The MIAC website will serve as a launching platform for information and interaction.
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