NASA DARES Community Update At AGU

As part of AGU’s ancillary programming, the NASA Astrobiology Program will host a NASA-DARES Community Update on Thursday, December 18, 2025, from 6:00–8:00 PM CST at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans.

This session will provide a detailed update on the development of the NASA Decadal Astrobiology Research and Exploration Strategy (NASA-DARES) and preview key elements of the upcoming Task Force 2 activity. During the meeting, we will:

Review progress from the Request for Information, Task Force 1 synthesis, and the RFI Findings Workshop.

Introduce selected NASA-DARES TF2 Ex-Officio Members, Co-Chairs, and Focus Area Leads.
Outline the process and timeline for selecting General Members and Executive Secretaries, which will continue into early 2026.

Share opportunities for community engagement as we move toward completing the Strategy in 2026.

The session will conclude with an open Q&A period with Astrobiology Program leadership and the NASA-DARES Task Force 2 Co-Chairs, Dr. Kathy Mandt (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) and Dr. Robin Wordsworth (Harvard University).

For community members unable to participate in person, the meeting will be recorded, and the recording will be posted on the NASA-DARES webpage after AGU.

NASA-DARES Task Force 2 Ex-Officio Members, starting from top left: Eve Berger (NASA Johnson Space Center, Focus Area 1), Aaron Burton (NASA Headquarters, Focus Area 2), Jessica Lee (NASA Ames Research Center, Focus Area 3), Kelsey Bisson (NASA Headquarters, Focus Area 4), Mary Beth Wilhelm (NASA Ames Research Center, Focus Area 5), Niki Parenteau (NASA Ames Research Center, Focus Area 6), Robin Fergason (NASA Ames Research Center/NASA Headquarters, Focus Area 7), Melissa Kirven-Brooks (NASA Ames Research Center, Focus Area 8), Becky McCauley Rench (NASA Headquarters, Focus Area 9), Daniella Scalice (NASA Ames Research Center, Ex-Officio Support for Focus Area 9).

NASA-DARES Task Force 2 Leadership, starting with Co-Chairs in bottom left: Robin Wordsworth (Harvard University), Kathleen Mandt (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), Loren Williams (Georgia Tech, Focus Area 1), Maitrayee Bose (Arizona State University, Focus Area 2), Karl Stapelfeldt (Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech, Focus Area 3), Charity Phillips-Lander (Southwest Research Institute, Focus Area 4), Aaron Regberg (NASA Johnson Space Center, Focus Area 5), Morgan Cable (Planetary Science Institute, Focus Area 6), Diana Gentry (NASA Ames Research Center, Focus Area 7), Christina Richey (SETI Institute, Focus Area 8), Sara Yeo (University of Utah, Focus Area 9). Additional selections for General Members and Executive Secretaries are ongoing and applicants should expect to receive decisions on their applications in the coming weeks.

Astrobiology,