NAI Funding Opportunities

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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

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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.
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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.

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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/.

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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)

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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

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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 teams research description, please
  see http//nasa.orau.org/postdoc.

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Past NPP Fellows, 2000 - 2003
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Past NPP Fellows, 2004
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Current NPP Fellows
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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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 NASAs space
  missions.
• Funding support is made available to approved
  NAI Focus Groups for the purpose of carrying out
  their proposed activities.