Meeting Topics

We will be doing an introduction to the club for our first-ever meeting! Held in room PA-215 at 5:00 pm PCT, members will have the opportunity to meet each other, learn about what the club is about, and get to learn some interesting facts about Astrobiology! All majors are welcome!

In this meeting, we covered how Deinococcus radiodurans (also known as "Conan the bacterium") could possibly survive on mars for an extended period of time. We covered this by diving into this article from NewScientist Magazine:  Bacteria could survive just under Mars's surface for 280 million years We also went into detail as to what extremophiles are, and how such bacterium is an example of an extremophile that can possibly live on mars. 

This meeting was originally supposed to take place on November 11th, 2022, but as that was a holiday, it was changed to the 18th. In this meeting, we discuss what the Drake Equation is. To do that, we watch this video: https://youtu.be/dM_Pelfc92s

After the video, professor Welsh goes into more detail as to what fraction of planets are possibly habitable for life. 

In this meeting, we will suggest targets on Mars to get an image from using the HiRISE program. With this, members are able to have a competition to see which site they would like to be photographed from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Please read up on the MRO before attending the meeting. 

Information on HiRISE can be found here: https://www.uahirise.org/

This meeting is kickstarting the beginning of the spring semester for the Astrobiology club! During this time, club members will present their HiWISH presentations. For those who are unaware or were not able to make it to the prior meeting, the HiWISH project allows individuals or groups to apply for an image to be taken of a spot on Mars by the MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter).

 During this meeting, we announced that individuals would be able to make a short 2–3-minute presentation as to which spot on Mars they would want an image of and why. In this meeting, we will watch such presentations and vote on which spot we would send to HiWISH as a club. A prize is also awarded to the individual whose presentation was chosen by the club. There will also be free pizza available to all club members! Links for research and investigation into the HiWISH project can be found under the "Resources" tab. 

Lucas's Presentation

Allie's Presentation

In this meeting, Joesph Soliz gives a brief talk on his SRS presentation, while others show their HiWISH presentations to the club. We decide who wins this competition and finalize our location to submit to HiWISH, and to finish it off Professor Welsh discusses some of the latest news in astrobiology. We also mention the topic for the next club meeting. 

HIWISH VOTING FORM HERE

In this meeting, the winner of the Astrobio HiWISH contest will be announced. In addition, members will learn about research astrobiology opportunities, and then we will work our way to our next topic: Europa. We will investigate the possible water under the icy crust of this moon, and get an introduction to its parameters that could possibly lead it to hold life.

BMSIS YSP Projects

Europa Clipper Mission 

JUICE ESA

In this meeting, we dove deeper into the topic of Europa, and why we think it has the potential to carry life. We took a look into the JUICE launch and also explored why Ganymede might actually be a better candidate for life than Europa. 

Being the last meeting of the 2022-2023 Academic school year, we concluded our topic on Europa. We had the winner of the previous HiWISH competition (Adam) show off the target he chose to be printed as his prize, and we explored a new mars interactive map. 

This was the first meeting of the Fall 2023 semester! We introduced the various aspects of the club to new members, and introduced the Haiku contest to the club! We also briefly touched on some of the newest news in Astrobiology, which will be covered in greater depth next meeting!

LINK TO HAIKUS: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zmbUZlVkRz6N1-iBm3lnLA-gI2i1tU7wRUYuUHwNwSk/edit?usp=sharing

LINK TO VOTE: https://forms.gle/dfpS99mAGy7sjcH1A

During this club meeting, we presented our Haikus, and did a demo on infrared imaging led by Professor Welsh. Then we went into the latest news in Astrobiology, talking about various topics (as well as the OSIRIS-REx mission).

In today's meeting, we revealed last week's haiku contest winner! Additionally, our topic from last week on biological handedness based on the CISS effect continued, as we aimed to explain was the CISS effect is! We did another demo, demonstrated by Professor Welsh, on thermal infrared imaging, and as always, kept up to date on the latest astrobiology news!

In this meeting, we looked into an important topic in the field of Astrobiology; chirality! Additionally, we took a quick dive into Enceledus and talked as to why it may be a promising place to look for life beyond Earth!

In this meeting, graduate student at SDSU, Samantha Anger, presented a talk about her thesis on Period- Finding Algorithms. Additionally, Professor Welsh presented some of the latest news in Astrobiology!

This meeting stood as the last for the Fall 2023 semester. In this meeting, we discussed several topics including: 

1. Some of the latest Astrobiology news

2. A quick plea on why we should never use CSV format

3. A clever trick for how Hubble or any telescope can measure stars that are too bright

4. A "fun" "space out" website about Mars and other places

5. Potentially BIG news (or not...): a new theory for merging general relativity and quantum mechanics: A Postquantum Theory of Classical Gravity?. 

This marked the first club meeting for the Spring 2024 Semester. During this session, our focus centered on determining the geology-related themes that we wish to explore with Dr. John Dunkhase, an esteemed Professor specializing in Geochemistry at the University of Iowa, for his forthcoming presentation. Subsequently, our club President, Allie Dunkhase, provided insights on two notable articles:

1. "Discovery Alert: The Planet that Shouldn’t Be There"

2. "NASA Study Finds Life-Sparking Energy Source and Molecule at Enceladus"

Concluding the meeting, Professor Welsh delivered a comprehensive overview of the latest developments in Astrobiology, complemented by a video presentation delving into the intriguing realm of Humpback Whale communication."

In this club meeting, we covered the latest developments in astrobiology, including a presentation on the adoption of LISA by the ESA. We also continued the whale video that we started last meeting. This video demonstrated that communication between organisms within our own planet is limited, presenting drawbacks to communication with potential extraterrestrial life. 

This is the first Astrobiology Club meeting of the 2024-2025 Academic School year. In this meeting, we welcomed new members of the club and gave our yearly new-member rundown. Additionally, we discussed some of the latest news in astrobiology. Finally, Dr. Welsh presented some work he did with Master's student Joseph Stoliz on "What If the Earth Orbited TRAPPIST-1?"

In this meeting, we discussed the latest Astrobio news shared by club members, introduced a citizen-science "Zooniverse" research opportunity called the Eclipsing Binary Patrol, and began our semester-long focus on the Europa Clipper Mission with some background info and video clips.

Articles shared by members:

• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13855827/Earth-new-mini-moon-days.html - Tanner

• https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/planetary-science/astrobiology/nasa-scientists-on-why-we-might-not-spot-solar-panel-technosignatures/ - Chad

• https://phys.org/news/2024-09-alien-skies.html#google_vignette - Allie

Europa videos/ information shared by Professor Welsh: 

Research Articles: "Europa Clipper: A Mission to Explore Ocean World Habitability" | SpringerLink 

Europa Clipper: NASA’s Mission to Jupiter's Ocean Moon (Mission Trailer)

Europa Clipper: Exploring Jupiter’s Ocean Moon (Mission Overview)

Searching for Life on Jupiter’s Moon Europa

Spacecraft Makers: Introducing Europa Clipper

In this meeting, we went over some of the latest news in astrobiology, and dove deeper into Europa- and the impact this moon has to the Europa Clipper Mission. 

Latest news:

• Chad: https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/planetary-science/astrobiology/nasa-scientists-on-why-we-might-not-spot-solar-panel-technosignatures/

• Tanner: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13855827/Earth-new-mini-moon-days.html

In this meeting, we went over some of the latest news in Astrobiology, and discussed more of the instrumentation and science motivation behind the Europa Clipper Spacecraft. This was following the last meeting which also focused on the Europa Clipper mission. 

Latest news:

• Chad: https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/planets/mars/could-life-exist-below-mars-ice-nasa-study-proposes-possibilities/

• Josh: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper/runway-to-jupiter/

In this meeting, we are more than honored to welcome the Europa Clipper Project Manager, Jordan P. Evans, in attending and spreading the word about JPL and the spacecraft. This meeting is held immediately after his colloquium to the Astronomy Department titled: "Challenges, Triumphs, and the Future: Europa Clipper". 

Additionally, we present the latest news to club members, and club President Allie Dunkhase presents her summer/ current research on the PIMS instrument aboard Clipper. 

Allie's Presentation: Slides

In this meeting, we are more than honored to welcome the Europa Clipper Project Manager, Jordan P. Evans, in attending and spreading the word about JPL and the spacecraft. This meeting is held immediately after his colloquium to the Astronomy Department titled: "Challenges, Triumphs, and the Future: Europa Clipper". 

Additionally, we present the latest news to club members, and club President Allie Dunkhase presents her summer/ current research on the PIMS instrument aboard Clipper. 

Allie's Presentation: Slides

In this meeting, we presented the latest news in astrobiology. Additionally, Professor Welsh presented his updates on the HiWISH project we started in previous meetings.

In this meeting, we are more than honored to welcome the Europa Clipper Project Manager, Jordan P. Evans, in attending and spreading the word about JPL and the spacecraft. This meeting is held immediately after his colloquium to the Astronomy Department titled: "Challenges, Triumphs, and the Future: Europa Clipper". 

Additionally, we present the latest news to club members, and club President Allie Dunkhase presents her summer/ current research on the PIMS instrument aboard Clipper. 

Allie's Presentation: Slides

In this meeting, we are more than honored to welcome the Europa Clipper Project Manager, Jordan P. Evans, in attending and spreading the word about JPL and the spacecraft. This meeting is held immediately after his colloquium to the Astronomy Department titled: "Challenges, Triumphs, and the Future: Europa Clipper". 

Additionally, we present the latest news to club members, and club President Allie Dunkhase presents her summer/ current research on the PIMS instrument aboard Clipper. 

Allie's Presentation: Slides

In this meeting, we presented the latest news in astrobiology and discussed topics regarding Europa, dark oxygen, and possible asteroid impacts. 

For the final Astrobiology Club meeting of this semester, we are thrilled to welcome and host a very special guest: Dr. Ping Lu, chair of SDSU’s Department of Aerospace Engineering and a world-renowned leader in space navigation. 

Dr. Lu’s groundbreaking trajectory algorithms — developed through his early collaborations with NASA — have set the industry standard and are crucial for future missions to land humans on Mars. This talk felt like the perfect finale to our semester-long theme on Mars exploration, and we had an exciting discussion with our highly engaged audience.

For more about Dr. Lu and his pioneering work, check out this article: SDSU Professor’s Mission to Land Humans on Mars.

In addition to Dr. Lu’s talk, we also dived into some of the latest news in astrobiology.

This is the first Astrobiology Club meeting of the 2025-20256 Academic School year. In this meeting, we welcomed new members and new officers of the club and gave our yearly new-member rundown. Additionally, we discussed some of the latest news in astrobiology. Finally, we learned about Saturn's moon Titan and the related missions of Cassini and Huygens. 

Lastly, we discussed NASA's recent findings about the Martian rock that Perseverance analyzed.

In this meeting, we began with covering some recent astrobio news. We then explored Titan and why it is so interesting to an astrobiologist, as well as further discussed the Cassini/Huygens Missions.

The meeting concluded with Dr. Welsh carrying out a demo involving CO2.

In this meeting, we presented the latest news in astrobiology. Then, we learned about some interesting findings from both the Cassini and Huygens missions. 

Next came our fun discussion about each member's most sci-fi movie/TV character. 

The meeting concluded with another demo by Dr. Welsh, this time with iron wool.

In this meeting, we started by welcoming back Allie, the former president of the club, who discussed the research she has been conducting.

We then discussed "What is your most hated sci-fi movie/TV character?", and voted to crown the worst of the worst. 

To conclude the meeting, we introduced the Dragonfly Mission by watching a talk given by Dr. Turtle about the mission at SDSU in her Schopp Memorial Lecture.

In this meeting, we started with some recent astrobio news.

Then, we finished the recording of the lecture by Elizabeth Turtle, explaining the Dragonfly Mission that we started in the last meeting.

To finish off the meeting, we conducted an activity about the very interesting Möbius strip.

In our last Fall semester meeting, we started with some recent astrobio news.

Then, we talked more in-depth about some of our favorite instrumentation found on Dragonfly, and Dr. Welsh discussed the fascinating RTGs.

Lastly, we conducted a fun segment called Sounds of Sci-Fi, where we listened to iconic Sci-Fi TV/Movie sound bites and tried to guess their origins. 

In our first Spring semester meeting of the 2025-2026 school year, we started with some recent astrobio news.

Then, we had a fun discussion about each member's choice of an alien world in sci-fi that they would like to take a vacation to.

We concluded the meeting by talking about the topic of pushing the limits of life with extremophiles.

For this meeting, we started with some recent astrobio news.

Then, we had a discussion around the question: “What item or thing from Sci-Fi do you wish was real?”

We concluded the meeting by continuing with the topic of pushing the limits of life.

For this meeting, we started with some recent astrobio news.

Then, we continued with our topic of pushing the limits of life, mainly focusing on the following:

• Radiophiles

• Thermophiles/Hyperthermophiles

• Psychrophiles

• Xerophiles

Lastly, we discussed the question: "What scientific mystery are you hoping will be solved within your lifetime?"

For this meeting, we started with some recent astrobio news.

Then, we continued with our topic of pushing the limits of life, mainly focusing on the following:

• Piezophiles 

• Halophiles 

Lastly, we discussed great women scientists whose work is (sadly) generally greatly underappreciated.

1. Chien-Shiung Wu

2. Eunice Newton Foote

3. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

4. Ada Lovelace

5. Henrietta Swan Leavitt

In the last Astrobio meeting of the 2025-2026 school year, we began with introducing the officers that will be taking over for the next school year.

Next, Dr. Welsh conducted a demo regarding the speed of information and how it travels.

Then, we had an interesting session on some interesting thoughts astronomers had concerning the Moon in the 1600s.

We finished the meeting off by concluding our topic of the semester: "Life as we don't know it."