Science Outreach at the Australian Centre for Astrobiology

The Mars Yard at the Powerhouse Museum

The Australian Centre for Astrobiology has a strong media, education and outreach program related to its research.

The ACA has developed, in association with NASA, a “virtual field trip” that allows students to join scientists in the field in the Pilbara and Shark Bay areas, and to understand the relevance of Australian science in understanding our origins and in searching for life elsewhere in the universe. One of the developers of that project, science communication specialist Carol Oliver, says: “Young people are fascinated by the challenges of planetary exploration. Astrobiology is a very effective way to encourage students to take up studies in science and engineering because it opens them to the nature of science – to understand that science is about pushing back the frontiers of our knowledge about the natural world.”