[University of Arizona]. AbGradCon 2026 brought an international group of graduate students studying astrobiology, planetary science and astronomy to the University of Arizona to present their research and engage in early-career discussions.
Astrobiology is the study of life in the universe – how it started, how it survives and where else it might exist. Some of the best evidence that life could exist beyond Earth comes from organisms living in extreme environments on this planet.
The University of Arizona – located in one of the hottest deserts in North America, where a variety of species have adapted to survive the heat – proved a suitable backdrop to host this year’s annual Astrobiology Graduate Conference.
AbGradCon is a highly selective international conference planned, programmed and attended solely by graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. About 100 early-career researchers were selected from roughly 300 applicants. They gathered Sept. 14-18 at the U of A Environment and Natural Resources 2 building to present their research, network with peers and engage in early-career discussions.
With the theme “Living on the Edge: From Interfaces to Distant Worlds,” the 2026 annual conference was organized by graduate students Sam Nasreldine of the University of Arizona, Seneca Velling of California Institute of Technology, Myles Quinn Edwards of Purdue University, Holly Rose Rucker of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Olivia Martin of Rutgers University.
Together, they developed a proposal that secured about $120,000 in NASA funding to support conference and pre-conference activities.
The U of A Arizona Astrobiology Center, which is housed within the Office of Research and Partnerships and connects astrobiology research across campus, was a sponsor of this year’s AbGradCon.
AbGradCon students line up for dinner inside the U of A’s Environment and Natural Resources 2 building following a panel discussion. Photo by Laine Kowalski, U of A Office of Research and Partnerships
“The center played an indispensable role managing this year’s conference logistics, and we could not have done it without their support,” said Nasreldine. “They helped us secure the ENR2 space. A building designed around desert life and sustainability is a perfect setting for a conference like this.”
It marks the first time the center has run a conference of this size – a testament to its role in developing graduate student education in astrobiology and planetary sciences, according to Tyler Robinson, the center’s associate director.
“What makes this conference special is that the organizers change every year,” Rucker said. “It gives a new group of grad students the chance to learn and appreciate what goes into creating a successful conference and is an opportunity to make some great connections with researchers and NASA administration.”
The reactions and processes necessary for creating life typically occur at boundaries, or interfaces, where two or more distinct conditions meet on Earth and on other planetary bodies, making the theme a fitting one for the field, Martin explained.
Astrobiology spans many disciplines, so organizers ranked submitted abstracts on both scientific merit and students’ ability to translate their science for astronomers, chemists, geologists and microbiologists.
“We’re all trying to figure out how to speak each other’s language without having to reinvent the wheel,” Velling said. “Every single student here, including those on the waitlist, is doing incredible work – we have the cream of the crop.”
From interfaces to distant worlds
Pre-conference activities began the weekend prior at the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter Observatory, where 16 selected students drafted proposals in teams and defended them before a mock review panel.
Speakers included Jason Barnes of the University of Idaho, deputy principal investigator on NASA’s Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan; Al Nash of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL; JPL astrobiologist Laurie Barge; and Rachel Harris, a postdoctoral management program fellow from the NASA Astrobiology Program. They all discussed navigating early-career research responsibilities.
Students stand in line at ENR2 for dinner Photo by Laine Kowalski, U of A Office of Research and Partnerships
Dante Lauretta, who directs the Arizona Astrobiology Center and led NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission, opened the main conference with a keynote, focusing on how to deliver your science to interdisciplinary, scientifically literate audiences. Prebiotic chemist Matthew Powner of University College London encouraged students to step outside of what is familiar, discussing whether life requires water to begin.
Students presented their work in talks and poster sessions, supplemented by panel discussions.
“The student talks span all walks of life – maybe even before life could walk,” Edwards joked. “We have interstellar chemistry, biosignatures, primordial biochemistry and a little bit of instrumentation all coming together under the umbrella of astrobiology.”
U of A-based researchers included Searra Foote of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, who presented on how a planet’s phase, the fraction of it lit from Earth’s viewpoint, affects biosignature detection for the upcoming Habitable Worlds Observatory – a telescope that will search other planets’ atmospheres for signs of life.
Planetary science doctoral candidate Roberto Aguilar reported on drone radar built to find accessible Martian ice. Others mapped salts in analog ice grains relevant to Saturn’s moon Enceladus and explored whether an exoplanet’s seasonality would produce detectable oxygen and ozone biosignatures.
Each of these projects addresses nuances for the next generation of astrobiology missions, which NASA has already begun developing.
A NASA-DARES (NASA’s Decadal Astrobiology Research and Exploration Strategy) panel laid out the agency’s future directions for the field and covered program opportunities for students. Interactive discussions also centered on handling career rejection and the benefits of having cross-disciplinary expertise within astrobiology.
A careers panel featured scientists from NASA, a federal lab, industry and universities, who shared their unique career paths with students.
Life carries on
As a new addition this year, the graduate committee formed a partnership with the American Geophysical Union’s ESS Open Archive, enabling students to publish their posters, slides or conference papers with a citable DOI. Now, work presented at AbGradCon can stay publicly available.
Changes made each year carry into the next conference.
“The committee’s final task for AbGradCon is to leave it better than we found it and to set it up successfully for when responsibilities are passed on to next year’s organizers, who will have the opportunity to improve upon it and make it their own,” Velling said. “As part of those efforts, this year’s committee has started to partner with the Scientific Society for Astrobiology (SSA) to support the conference planning process in future years.”
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