Astrobiology Graduate Conference: A 15 Year Retrospective

Abstract

The 15th Astrobiology Graduate Conference (AbGradCon) was held at the University of Utah this past July. AbGradCon is a unique academic conference that is organized solely by early career scientists for other early career scientists. Every year, graduate students and postdocs gather to present their research through oral and poster presentations, take part in public outreach events, and gather informally to forge connections with their peers. This provides the opportunity to create and strengthen interdisciplinary and international networks between early career astrobiologists who will be leaders of such research in the years to come. Indeed, after 15 iterations, many of the alumni of the earliest AbGradCon meetings have gone on to become senior scientists and principal investigators. As organizers of the 2019 meeting, we feel that AbGradCon can serve as a robust model for other student-led meetings in any discipline. Here, we reflect upon the successful changes that have been implemented over the years, how current conference activities align with our goals, and the future challenges that AbGradCon faces as we look forward to the next 15 years of the conference.

Exoplanets in our Backyard: A report from an interdisciplinary community workshop and a call to combined action

“…Involvement of the student and early career community in future interdisciplinary meetings such as Exoplanets in our Backyard should be supported by NASA to foster the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists. This model has already been applied successfully in the astrobiology community, through venues including the interdisciplinary Astrobiology Graduate Conference (AbGradCon) [2][3][4]. AbGradCon is exclusively organized and attended by students and early career researchers with the dual goals of providing a space to share research among peers and growing a community of next-generation astrobiologists.…”

AbGradCon 2021: lessons in digital meetings, international collaboration, and interdisciplinarity in astrobiology

“…, and since its inception has been an interdisciplinary meeting for and organized by students, postdoctoral fellows, and other early-career astrobiology researchers (McGonigle et al, 2019). Some goals of AbGradCon include: introduction of astrobiology to participants without much astrobiology background, exposure to different astrobiology-related fields through one track of presentations, creation of research networks with other early career astrobiology researchers, and practice giving presentations in a formal conference setting.…”