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The pre-workshop online activities for the NExSS Exoplanet Biosignatures Workshop Without Walls will commence on June 13! We are pleased to let you know that 3 pairs of meetings will be timed to engage participants across the globe.

These pre-workshop activities will be community work sessions to review the State of the Science of remotely detectable biosignatures. The results will be summarized at the 3-day in-person workshop in July, where they will facilitate discussions for Advancing the Science and Technology for exoplanet biosignatures.

State of the Science Review

The length of each meeting will be 75 minutes.

Meeting 1: Topic: Review biosignatures described in Des Marais et al., (2002) Astrobiology 2(2):153-181

Session A: June 13 at 13:00 EDT (timed to engage European time zones)

Speaker: David Des Marais

Session B: June 16/17 at 19:00 EDT/8:00 am JST (timed to engage Asian time zones)

Speaker: David Des Marais

Goal/work session: After presentation, fill in rubric recording characteristics of biosignatures described in the review.

Meeting 2: Discuss advances in biosignature research since 2002 review

Session A: June 27 at 13:00 EDT

Speaker: Sarah Rugheimer (atmospheric biosignatures)

Session B: June 30/July 1 at 18:00 EDT/7:00 am JST (NOTE: 1 hour earlier!)

Speaker: Charles Cockell (surface biosignatures)

Goal/work session: Continue to fill in rubric with published atmospheric and surface biosignature research since 2002.

Meeting 3: Overview of observation technologies

Session A: July 11 at 13:00 EDT

Speaker: Karl Stapelfeldt

Session B: July 14/15 at 19:00 EDT/8:00 am JST

Speaker: Drake Deming

Goal/work session: TBD

Videoconferencing instructions for the pre-workshop online activities will be posted on the website and sent out shortly before the meetings to those who provided their email in the online poll. Click here for all the information.

We look forward to developing the conversation among astronomers, planetary scientists, atmospheric scientists, Earth system scientists, biogeochemists, biologists, mission designers, and more!