The proponents of the UW astrobiology program expect to topple a pressure zone right here on campus-historic barriers between various academic programs. Scores of professors are developing the highly interdisciplinary curriculum involving 11 UW degree programs - oceanography, astronomy, aeronautics and astronautics, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, atmospheric sciences, geophysics, geological sciences and history. The School of Oceanography will provide dedicated laboratory space for students to study organisms that live in extreme conditions.

The program also will tap two outside entities ­ the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland and ZymoGenetics of Seattle. The Richland laboratory will offer students a chance to study microbial life in the subterranean basalt formations in eastern Washington. ZymoGenetics will offer internships so students can study the unique enzymes contained in unusual bacteria, a particular interest to the company. Such bacteria have proven valuable for designing products, even some as mundane as household detergents.


A close-up of microbial filaments from the walls of sulfide chimneys found deep below the ocean's surface. Photo courtesy of Jody Deming, UW School of Oceanography.

Some look for astrobiology to one day be a separate degree program. Leovy isn't among them. One of the greatest advantages with the current plan, he says, is that it draws on many people from many different fields who otherwise might never collaborate and learn about each other's work. Simply put, it tears down walls between departments, and he doesn't like to think new walls might someday be built around a new department.

Leovy also expects the students to be particularly challenged as they blaze new paths of discovery. "Astrobiology students will have to learn rigorously, as well as more broadly, than most other science graduate students," he said.

Even though the program won't formally begin until later this year, it already has its first participant ­ Matt Schneider, a 28-year-old engineering graduate student from Seattle. He's been a regular at a seminar series created by astrobiology faculty, who explore widely disparate scientific topics related to the program.

"It's just a tasty subject because there's a lot of possibilities for discovery," Schneider says. "One of the best things is that it's so multidisciplinary."

In fact, that's an educational revolution, he says, highlighted by the seminar series in which professors have to talk about their specialties at a level that can be understood by those in other fields.

"A biologist speaking to an engineer ­ that's a pretty strong difference in backgrounds, and it's pretty neat to be exposed to that broad base of knowledge," he said.

Schneider finds that he has a bit of explaining to do when he tells friends and family that he's pursuing a career in astrobiology. Their typical reaction: "What the heck is that?" But that doesn't bother him, and he says he hasn't run into much skepticism. He hopes to use the degree to land a NASA job, perhaps working on missions to Mars or Europa. He envisions himself as a liaison between the scientists who cook up the discovery projects and the engineers who design the equipment to get the job done.

Graduates are likely to find their main employment opportunities in academia or in laboratories at NASA or at companies such as ZymoGenetics. Sullivan suggests that some might even turn their talents to science writing, bringing greater general understanding of scientific breakthroughs to the public.

He expects about a dozen students when the program formally sets up shop. Budget constraints, not a lack of interest, limit the number of students the program can accommodate. The NSF grant contains money only for the students' research assistantships. Still, the interest continues to build. By telephone, letter and e-mail, queries have come from across the country and around the world ­ even though the NSF assistance is limited to students from the United States.

"They're coming from all directions and it's interesting, the different backgrounds," Sullivan says.


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