Why the USA and NASA need astrobiology, Neville J. Woolf

"Last year the NASA Astrobiology Institute held an internal meeting to explore the range of research of Institute members. There were no specialist sessions. And the audience stayed for all the talks, astronomy, geology, biology and education. The success was jointly an activity of speakers who were learning to express their work without jargon, and an audience that was receptive to the range of topics. This is an ongoing learning experience. Astrobiology does not yet have all the educational answers, but it is headed in a direction that the United States needs, not only at the graduate level, but for undergraduates and high school students too."