# Presentation: 449469

## NAI Funding Opportunities

- NAI Conference and Workshop Fund
- NAI Minority Institution Research Support (MIRS) Program
- NASA Postdoctoral Program
- NAI Research Scholarships
- Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research in Astrobiology
- International Collaboration
- Focus Groups

## NAI Conference and Workshop Fund

- The NAI supports requests for sponsorship of special sessions at national and international professional meetings, or for support (full or partial) to organize a separate meeting or workshop focused in areas relevant to astrobiology.
- Participation by NAI members is expected, but such activities are open to the broader science community.

## NAI Conference & Workshop Fund - 2006

- Recent activities supported by the NAI include the following sessions held as part of large, community-wide meetings.
-     **International Symposium on Microbial Ecology**, August 2006, in Vienna , Austria . "Life in Extreme Environments and Astrobiology", organized by Frank Robb.
-     **Geological Society of America**, October 2006, in Philadelphia, PA, "Changes in Ocean and Atmospheric Redox State and the Evolution of Life", organized by Andrey Bekker and Ganqing Jiang.
-     **2006 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting**, 11-15 December, 2006, in San Francisco , CA "Biofilms in the Environment: Adaptive Roles, Microbe-mineral Interfaces, and Contributions to Global Biogeochemical Cycles", Organized by D'Arcy Meyer-Dombard and Matt Schrenk.
-     **American Astronomical Society**, January 2007, Seattle , WA , "Formation and Detection of Habitable Planets", organized by Nader Haghighipour.

## NAI Minority Institution Research Support 

**The NAI Minority Institution Research Support (MIRS) Program** provides opportunities for researchers from qualified minority institutions to initiate joint partnerships with researchers in the field of astrobiology. The NAI-MIRS program provides summer sabbaticals, follow-up support, and travel opportunities for faculty and students from minority institutions.
- The purpose of this initiative is to increase the attendance and participation of underrepresented scientists in astrobiology research laboratories, at professional conferences, and as members in NAI Teams.
- Detailed information for sabbaticals is available at http://www.nai-mirs.org/.

## Past NAI MIRS Fellows

- Todd Gary, Tennessee State University - collaborated with Jim Lake, UCLA - Computational methods for determining evolutionary relationships and horizontal gene transfer (2002)
- Michael Ceballos, Salish Kootenai College (Pablo, Montana) with Ken Stedman of Portland State University, co-chair of the NAI Virus Focus Group  examining viral genomes to elucidate viral protein structure-function interactions, and relate these data to viral ecology and evolution (2006)

## 2007 NAI MIRS Fellows

- Don Walter, South Carolina State University, to be hosted by Mike Mumma and Michael DiSanti, NASA GSFC, to develop a sustainable program of optical imaging and spectroscopy of comets at SCSU
- Abel Mendez - University of Puerto Rico, Arecibo with Chris McKay, NASA ARC, for development of a device to model microbial growth in the dynamic temperatures of natural environments

## NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP)

- NAI Postdoctoral Fellows are full members of the NAI and, as such, are included in the NAI database and on-line directory, invited to attend and submit abstracts for NAI General Meetings, given access to NAI collaborative tools, and are eligible for additional NAI funding opportunities.
- The NAI Postdoctoral Program is administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). There are typically three selections per year, however the NAI does not participate in every application/award cycle.
- For additional information about the program and to view each team’s research description, please see **http://nasa.orau.org/postdoc**.

## Past NPP Fellows, 2000 - 2003

## Past NPP Fellows, 2004

## Current NPP Fellows

## NAI Research Scholarships

- 	The NAI Research Scholarship Program offers research-related travel support to enable **graduate** or **postdoctoral students** to circulate among two or more NAI Teams or participating institutions of the NAI.
- 	Requests are limited to $5,000, and are accepted on a continuous basis.

## The Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research in Astrobiology

- The American Philosophical Society and the NASA Astrobiology Institute have partnered to promote the continued exploration of the world around us through a program of research grants in support of astrobiological field studies undertaken by **graduate and** **postdoctoral students, and junior scientists and scholars.**
- The Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research in Astrobiology is open to field studies in any area of interest to astrobiology. Grants may be used for travel and related expenses, including field equipment up to **$5,000**. Applications will be reviewed by a committee that includes members of the NAI, the APS, and the wider science community as needed.
- http://www.amphilsoc.org/grants/astrobiology.htm

## 2005 Lewis And Clark Fund Awards

- _Mercedes Lopez-Morales_ (Carnegie Institution of Washington), Searching for Transits of Extrasolar Planets around Their Host Stars Using the Swope Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in **Chile**
- _Clara Fuchsman_ (University of Washington), Expedition to the Mid-Proterozoic: Understanding the Nitrogen Cycle in the **Black Sea** Suboxic Zone
- _Nicholas Swanson-Hysell_ (Princeton University),  Testing the Limits of Global Change: Integrated Magnetic and Chemical Stratigraphy of the Bitter Spring Stage, **Australia**
- _Damhnait Gleeson_ (University of Colorado), Sampling at the Unique Sulfur-Rich Icy Ecosystems at Borup Fiord Pass on Ellesmere Island in the **Canadian High Arctic**
- _Penny Morrill_ (Carnegie Institution of Washington), Identification of Gaseous Hydrocarbon Formation from Ultrabasic Springs at a Site of Active Serpentinization in **Sonoma County, California**
- _Brian Hynek_ (University of Colorado), Mars’ Astrobiology Potential from Cerro Negro Volcano, **Nicaragua**

## International Collaboration

- A fund has been identified to help support travel and accommodation costs associated with collaborations between NAI members and international colleagues in the field of astrobiology.
- Critical travel to non-U.S. laboratories or field sites is appropriate for this support, as are invitations to a foreign scientist to visit your institution for research related activities, circulating among at least two of the NAI teams during her/his time in the U.S., thereby increasing the degree of intellectual exchange both internationally and inter-team.
-  Funds are limited to $5,000 per exchange.

## NAI Focus Groups

- 	Focus Groups are cross-team and community-wide research or planning efforts formed around a specific topic, judged to be of particular significance for advancing the field of astrobiology. They are established to stimulate new areas of research, promote long-distance collaborations, and contribute to NASA’s space missions.
- 	Funding support is made available to approved NAI Focus Groups for the purpose of carrying out their proposed activities.