The Western Championship Tournament of the NASA Astrobiology Debates series was held at the University of Washington, Seattle on October 17-18th. University debate teams from all over the country participated, including Central Michigan University, George Fox University, The George Washington University, Gonzaga University, Harvard University, MIT, Seattle University, US Air Force Academy, UC Berkeley, University of Texas, University of Washington, and Yale University. All teams worked with this topic: Resolved: An overriding ethical obligation to protect and preserve extraterrestrial microbial life and ecosystems should be incorporated into international law.

In the final, which was webcast live from Seattle on October 18th, George Washington University (affirmative) took on Yale (negative), and GW emerged victorious with a score of 4-3 from the judging panel. The Western Champions will join winners of future NASA Astrobiology Debates on a study tour next year to a NASA Center, touring facilities and meeting with scientists to gain deeper insight into the search for life elsewhere.