Astrobiology Science Conference 2024 press tips and events

Rhode Island Convention Center
One Sabin Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02903
5 - 10 May 2024

Press contact:
Liza Lester, +1 (202) 777-7494, [email protected]

WASHINGTON - Media tips and events are available for the 2024 Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon), sponsored by the American Geophysical Union (AGU), to be held in Providence, Rhode Island, 5 to 10 May 2024. The biennial conference brings together a diverse, international astrobiology community to share new research investigating life's potential, from Earth's extreme environments and distant past to our Solar System's icy moons and distant exoplanets.

In this advisory:

• Press roundtables
• Highlighted sessions and presentations
• Press registration
• Programming and online access
• Health and safety

Press roundtable Q&A sessions

AGU Media Relations will live stream press roundtable events via Zoom Webinar and take questions from remote reporters. Panelists, related abstracts and Zoom Webinar access links are detailed in the online Press Center. The press password will be emailed to all press registrants for AbSciCon24, or email AGU Media Relations at [email protected] for assistance.

How Venus lost its water
Monday, 6 May 11:30 a.m. EDT

Billions of years ago, Venus may have harbored just as much water as Earth. Today, almost all of it has disappeared. How the planet lost its water remains a mystery. In a new study, which will be published 6 May in the journal Nature, researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder report that they've filled an important gap in this "water story on Venus." The team will share its findings and describe their implications for Venus and planets across the galaxy. [Note: the related Nature paper is embargoed until 11:00 a.m. on 6 May. For more information, contact Daniel Strain, University of Colorado Boulder press office, [email protected]]

Does Europa, Jupiter's icy moon, have the 'right stuff' to support life? How NASA's Europa Clipper will help answer that question.
Tuesday, 7 May 11:30 a.m. EDT

NASA's Europa Clipper's main science goal is to determine whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter's icy moon, Europa, that could support life. The mission's detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential of icy worlds beyond our planet. Members of NASA's Europa Clipper team will be available to meet with journalists and answer questions about the mission's science and engineering as it readies for launch in October 2024.

Tips

Press registration

Staff, freelance and student journalists are eligible to apply for complimentary press registration through the end of the conference. Press officers and institutional writers covering the meeting are also eligible. Learn about AGU's press eligibility requirements.

Reporters and press officers interested in press registration should email [email protected]. Please include a link to your institution's staff page, byline or masthead listing your name and position. Freelancers should provide a link to a portfolio or links to at least three bylined science news stories published in the last 12 months. Walk-in press registration will be accepted.

Media access to the meeting is issued at the discretion of AGU Media Relations. All press registrants must provide credentials regardless of whether they have attended in the past. Please email us at [email protected] if you have a question about eligibility, what group you should register under, or other conference questions.

Programming and online access

AbSciCon24 will host daily online discussion sessions at 10 am EDT and a selection of hybrid sessions. Recording of in-person talks will be available 72 hours after the events. The full scientific program is available now. Find hybrid in-person and online sessions by navigating to "browse by day" and select "hybrid" at the top.

Media registrants receive, at no charge, access to all scientific sessions and an on-site press room, along with press events. Some events and activities, including but not limited to invitation-only events and communications workshops, are not open to press registrants.

Health and safety

AbSciCon is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for all participants and staff. We continue to monitor health and safety issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic and other communicable diseases and follow U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines as they are released.

AbSciCon strongly encourages all attendees to be up to date on all vaccinations. AbSciCon will not require documentation of COVID-19 vaccination in order to attend the meeting. However, we will reconsider implementing this requirement if conditions and guidance from health professionals change.

Masking guidelines will be assessed prior to the meeting dates. Masks will be available onsite for attendees upon request and those who wish to wear masks are encouraged to do so.

Save the date for more 2024 science

###

AGU (www.agu.org) is a global community supporting more than half a million advocates and professionals in Earth and space sciences. Through broad and inclusive partnerships, AGU aims to advance discovery and solution science that accelerate knowledge and create solutions that are ethical, unbiased and respectful of communities and their values. Our programs include serving as a scholarly publisher, convening virtual and in-person events and providing career support. We live our values in everything we do, such as our net zero energy renovated building in Washington, D.C. and our Ethics and Equity Center, which fosters a diverse and inclusive geoscience community to ensure responsible conduct.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.