A special “Winter School” for early career astrobiologists was held from January 1-14, 2014 in Hawai’i. The school was co-sponsored by the NAI team at the University of Hawai’i and the Nordic Network for Astrobiology.

The program combined lectures, field excursions, and extended discussion time, and combined astronomy, biology, and geology via three main venues: Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, UH Institute for Astronomy in Hilo, HI, and the UH main campus in Manoa.

30 participants from 8 countries joined 33 speakers and staff, also from around the world, to take part in 29 hours of lectures, 16 hours of discussion, 23 hours of hands-on activities and presentations, and 23 hrs in the field.

The participants had the opportunity to plan observations using the UH 2.2m telescope on Mauna Kea
and work with data from these facilities. In spite of an ice storm, the crew did make it to the summit and saw some telescopes, in addition to seeing the HISEAS habitat. Students also had two full days exploring the Hawai’i Volcanos park with a volcanologist.

The school served as a forum in which an extended exchange of interdisciplinary research ideas took place, leading to new research initiatives and collaborations.