Exploring the Abiotic Background for Life Detection:
A Joint NASA NfoLD – PCE3 – NOW Workshop
March 31- April 3, 2025
The community is invited to the Exploring the Abiotic Background for Life Detection Workshop, organized and sponsored by a partnership between three NASA Research Coordination Networks (RCNs): Network for Ocean Worlds (NOW), the Network for Life Detection (NfoLD), and Prebiotic Chemistry and Early Earth Environments (PCE3).
This workshop aims to assess the current understanding of the ‘abiotic background’ in ocean worlds, such as Europa and Enceladus, by engaging experts from various fields including prebiotic chemistry, origin of life, and astrochemistry.
Workshop Date and Location
March 31 – April 3, 2025
Carnegie Science
5251 Broad Branch Rd NW
Washington, DC 20015
USA
Topics and Workshop Goals
Core questions the workshop seeks to address include:
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What is the potential extent and history of organic chemical evolution in ocean world environments, and what challenges might this pose for detecting evidence of life?
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What contextual measurements might help to rule in/out abiotic mimics for evidence of life?
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When can predictable patterns in the abiotic background support an abiotic hypothesis or contextualize negative life detection results?
The workshop will be organized around eight modules, each focused on a key topic:
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Module 0: Introduction and Dinner Keynote
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Module 1: Mission Primer: Life Detection Mission Concepts to Ocean Worlds
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Module 2: Life Detection Technology
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Module 3: Planetary (or Ocean Worlds) Processes
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Module 4: Assessing the Abiotic Background
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Module 5: Abiotic Background in the Context of Life Detection
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Module 6: Leveraging the Abiotic Background
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Module 7: The Way Forward
Outcomes
The main deliverable from the workshop will be an open-access publication that captures the current state of the field, identifies key knowledge gaps, and highlights areas where focused research could help to advance our readiness for life detection missions.
Meeting format, registration, and travel support
A tentative schedule can be downloaded here:
The main full days of the workshop will be April 1 - 3, 2025, with a Workshop Primer and dinner taking place the evening of March 31st. The workshop will have both in-person and remote participation options. In person attendees will be asked to present a poster on April 1st. The poster session is intended to familiarize participants with each other’s research relevant to workshop content and help seed Module discussions. In-person attendance will be determined based on venue constraints, a balance of career stage and expertise, and the relevance of submitted poster abstracts to workshop topics. Remote participation will include access to talks, Q&A, and plenary sessions. A registration fee of $250 will be applicable to in-person participation and will be waived for Early Career participants (within 5 years of Ph.D.). A limited number of $500 travel grants may be available to early career participants. Once registration opens, on or around Feb. 20th, those who provide a valid email address on the interest form (see below) will receive information about registration, fee procedures, and travel grants.
SOC Chairs
Svetlana Shkolyar (UMD/ NASA GSFC)
Tori Hoehler (NASA ARC)
Alfonso Davila (NASA ARC)
SOC
Laurie Barge (NASA JPL)
Morgan Cable (NASA JPL)
Andy Czaja (U Cincinnati)
Grégoire Danger (Aix-Marseille University)
Moran Frenkel-Pinter (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Michel Nuevo (NASA ARC)
Andro Rios (San Jose State University)
Karyn Rogers (RPI)
Jeffrey Seewald (WHOI)
Andrew Steele (Carnegie Science)
Invited Speakers
Frank Postberg (Freie Universität Berlin)
Shannon MacKenzie (JHU Applied Physics Lab)
Kevin Hand (JPL)
Stephanie Getty (NASA GSFC)
Aaron Noell (JPL)
Wanying Kang (MIT)
Chris German (WHOI)
Jacob Buffo (Dartmouth College)
Chris Glein (SW Research Institute)
Sarah Hörst (JHU)
Kristin Johnson-Finn (RPI)
Jim Cleaves (Howard University)
Alexis Bouquet (Laboratoire de Physique des Interactions Ioniques et Moléculaires)
Barbara Sherwood-Lollar (University of Toronto)
Indication of Interest
Please fill out the Interest Form to indicate your interest for the workshop.
Only those who fill out the Interest Form will receive further workshop announcements by email, including when registration is open. If you are not sure of your attendance plans but interested in receiving further information, we encourage you to fill out the Interest Form.
Registration
Registration will open on or around Feb. 20, 2025. Forms and information will be emailed to those who have indicated interest on the form above at this time. This will include information on travel grants and a poster abstract submission form.
Code of Conduct
This workshop is jointly sponsored with the NOW RCN. Participants of this workshop will be expected to adhere to the updated (as of Feb. 2025) Code of Conduct used for all NOW Retreats Workshops, but applicable in this case to all RCNs represented in this workshop.
Questions
Workshop questions can be directed to the SOC by filling out question 4 of the interest form (button above).