geosciences professor hosts texas a&m exploration space sciences workshoptexas a&m professors hold a space exploration workshop to discuss the diversity of research required for space exploration and the future of texas a&ms aptitude of space research dec 13 2021photo courtesy of dr ryan ewingspace science is a major field of research in many disciplines throughout texas a&m university and recently a college of geosciences professor invited all of those researchers to gather together virtually dr ryan ewing professor in the department of geology and geophysics planned and hosted exploration space science workshop virtually oct 22 open to the entire texas a&m community one of ewings major research projects involved studying mars-like environments in the icelandic highlands which aided in the mars 2020 mission numerous research groups on campus are studying aspects of planetary and space science he said he recalled even being contacted by the department of construction science for some insight on lunar construction in recent years due to this unique but mutual vision the extraterrestrial engineering and construction research initiative (extec) was founded at texas a&m with participation from the college of engineering college of architecture and college of geosciences it was exactly this multidisciplinary participation that made ewing wonder just how many subgroups exist in the field of space exploration to further explore this question he helped plan and host the exploration space science workshop the professors and researchers that attended had a diverse background in numerous fields including earth sciences planetary sciences astrophysics cosmology astrobiology and the list goes on professors who spoke during the workshop include dr marion nachon associate research scientist in geology and geophysics on the surface of mars dr jonelle walsh assistant professor in physics and astronomy on black holes dr mathias katzfuss associate professor in the department of statistics on the statistics of space dr george allen assistant professor in geology on surface water and ocean topography (swat) dr anita rapp associate professor in atmospheric sciences on using sensors in atmospheric sciences and dr darren depoy professor in physics and astronomy on exoplanet research during the discussions one of the main goals was to recognize how large and diverse this area of research is and if any fields are being left out which the scholars present were quick to list to the hosts another goal set for this workshop was to plan the expansion of texas a&ms already established influence on space exploration sciences since the university is a space grant institution the reality of becoming a recognized leader in space exploration and supporting the national vision set by nasa doe space force and others is more than just a wish its a projection the workshop allowed for the many professionals to answer the question what do we want to do and what do we need to do it it was agreed upon by attendees that the inclusion of current and future students in the universitys research of space was vital to texas a&ms future which speaker emily wilkinson a third year student and president of students for the exploration and development of space (sed) spoke on the group allows any major to participate not just students already studying space the space community at texas a&m is thriving and growing wilkinson said the students belong there no matter what they bring to the table as texas a&m continues to produce fantastic scholars in many areas of research and encourages all disciplines to participate in programs like sed the potential this university holds on the future of space exploration seems infinite much like space itself by abigail spears ‘23