The Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research in Astrobiology

The American Philosophical Society (APS) is the oldest learned society in North America, and a scientific sponsor of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery in 1804. This spirit of exploration continues today, and nowhere is it more visible than in the vision and efforts of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The American Philosophical Society and the NASA Astrobiology Institute have, therefore, partnered to promote the continued exploration of the world around us through a new program of research grants in support of astrobiological field studies undertaken by graduate students, 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. Recipients will be designated as Lewis and Clark Field Scholars in Astrobiology.

Additional information, including the application forms and instructions, is available at the APS's Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research in Astrobiology page.

2007 Selections

1. Laura M. Barge, USC     
   Hematite concretions in Utah   

2. Melissa Adams, Stanford University
   Adaptation on the micro-scale: An integrative approach to elucidate the in situ metabolism of novel phosphorous species by thermophilic cyanobacteria in a hot spring microbial mat community

3. Melissa Hage, University of Tennessee     
   Banded Iron Formations in Greenland      

4. Katherine Harris, University of Oxford           
   Aquatic microbial communities in the Andes

5. Pablo Sobron, Spanish Center for Astrobiology  
   Raman spectroscopy at Iron Mountain, CA

6. Nicholas Warner, Arizona State University
   Identification and collection of hydrothermally altered basaltic material in southern Iceland

2006 Selections

1. 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

2. Clara Fuchsman (University of Washington)
   Expedition to the Mid-Proterozoic: Understanding the Nitrogen Cycle in the Black Sea Suboxic Zone

3. Nicholas Swanson-Hysell (Princeton University)
   Testing the Limits of Global Change: Integrated Magnetic and Chemical Stratigraphy of the Bitter Spring Stage, Australia

4. 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

5. Penny Morrill (Carnegie Institution of Washington)
   Identification of Gaseous Hydrocarbon Formation from Ultrabasic Springs at a Site of Active Serpentinization in Sonoma County, California

6. Brian Hynek (University of Colorado)
   Mars' Astrobiology Potential from Cerro Negro Volcano, Nicaragua