NASA Astrobiology Minority Institution Research Support (MIRS) Program 2015
The goal of the MIRS Program is to help train a new generation of researchers in astrobiology and to increase diversity within the astrobiology community. Over the past ten years, the program has provided opportunities for faculty members and students from minority-serving institutions to partner with astrobiology investigators.
One of the program’s main objectives is to engage more faculty from under-represented schools in astrobiology research and increase the number of students pursuing careers in astrobiology.
Please contact Melissa Kirven-Brooks, Melissa.kirven@nasa.gov for more information.
2015 MIRS Application – The application deadline has passed for 2015
2015 Minority Institution Research Support Fellows
Dr. Yassin Jeilani, Spelman College
Host – Michael P. Callahan, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
“Formamide Chemistry under Drying Lagoon Conditions“
Dr. Erik Melchiorre, Cal State University, San Bernardino
Host – Dr. Timothy Lyons, University of California, Riverside
“Planetary Habitability and the Origins of Life: Evaluating Mineralogical Evidence for Extremophile Habitability Within Serpentinizing Environments of Early Earth“
2014 Minority Institution Research Support Fellows
Dr. Peter Abanda, Mid-South Community College
Host – Lee Bebout, NASA Ames Research Center
“Roles of Microbes in metal binding and Uptake in Complex Microbial Systems“
Dr. Marcus Alfred, Howard University
Host – Paul Butler, Carnegie Institution of Washington
“Searching for Terrestrial Worlds Around Nearby Stars“
Dr. Jean-Marie Dimandja, Spelman College
Host – George Cooper, NASA Ames Research Center
“Development of a Multi-Dimentional Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry Method for the analysis of Extractable Organics in Meteorites“
Dr. James Wachira, Morgan State University
Host – George Fox, University of Houston
“Modeling the Tertiary Structure of the Ribosomal Peptidyl Transferase Center“
2013 Minority Institution Research Support Fellows
Dr. Alan Anderson, Bowie State University
Host – Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy, Scripps Research Institute
“A Search for the Ancestors of RNA“
Dr. Tiffany Oliver, Spelman College
Host – George Fox, University of Houston
“The Peptidyl Transferase Center (PTC)”
Dr. Joseph Onyilagha, University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff
Host – Stephen Freeland, University of Maryland Baltimore County
“Investigation into the Origin of the Genetic Code”
Dr. Anne Osano, Bowie State University
Host – Alfonso Davila SETI Institute
“Salt Deliquescence DrivesPhotosynthesis in the Hyperarid Atacama Desert”
Dr. Pablo Suárez Joya, Delaware State University
Host – Wayne Roberge, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
“Adaptive Mesh Refinement Techniques for Simulating Multifluid Magnetohydrodynamic Shock Waves”
2012 Minority Institution Research Support Fellows
Dr. Prabhakar Misra, Howard University
Host – Paul Mahaffy of NASA Goddard
“Fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy of organic molecules of relevance to the spectral library of potential contaminants for the Mars Science Laboratory mission”
Dr. Hany Sobhi, Coppin State University
Host – Natasha Johnson of NASA Goddard
“Investigation of the Fischer –Tropsch-Type (FTT) Catalysis reaction mechanism for the production of insoluble and volatile organic molecules in the protostellar nebula”
2011 Minority Institution Research Support Fellows
Genet Ide Duke, Northeastern Illinois University (HSI)
Host – John W. Valley, University of Wisconsin
“Carbonatite magmas: Source and evolution of Earth’s deep CO2 reservoir”
Yousef M. Hijji, Morgan State University (HBCU)
Host – Paul Mahaffy, NASA Goddard
“Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) in Determination of the Solubility of Nitriles in Liquid Ethane and Methane: Applications in the Determination of Organics in the GC Exhaust”
Mamta Rawat, California State University, Fresno (HSI)
Host – Kasthuri J. Venkateswaran, NASA JPL
“Mechanisms of resistance to deep space and Martian environment in Bacilli”
