Virtual Outreach with New Horizon Elementary School

BMSIS Young Scientist Shaelyn Silverman led an outreach event at New Horizon Elementary School in Irvine, California.

On September 29th, 2017 I had the privilege of leading a virtual outreach event for a 3rd grade class of New Horizon Elementary School, located in Irvine, CA. Through FaceTime I gave the students a tour of the Exobiology branch at NASA Ames and showed them the exciting microbial mats in the Microbial Ecology & Biogeochemistry Research Laboratory where I work. We discussed NASA’s approach to the search for life in the Solar System, from the specifics of how the work of individual research labs is combined to provide insight into remote life detection, to the general overview of ongoing and upcoming NASA missions. The students were extremely excited and asked many profound questions throughout our conversation. At the end, many students expressed a newfound desire to work toward a career in astrobiology. Though I sparked this interest in the students, they touched my life in an intangible way.