The NAI is pleased to announce its selections for the 2009 NAI-Minority Institution Research Support (NAI-MIRS) program. The MIRS program provides summer sabbaticals, follow-up support, and travel opportunities for faculty and students from minority serving institutions.

This year the following two faculty members have been selected to lead new research in astrobiology.

Dr. Rakesh Mogul, from the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona will work with Kasthuri Venkateswaran, at JPL, on the characterization of Acinetobacter radioresistens 50v1, an extremophile isolated from the Mars Odyssey Spacecraft.

Dr. Aaron Cavosie, from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, will work with John W. Valley, at the Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, on developing methods to identify impact evidence from the early Earth: Isotopic and structural characteristics of detrital shocked zircon from the Vredefort Dome (South Africa).

For more information on the MIRS program, visit http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/nai/funding/nai-minority-institution-research-support

[Source: NAI Newsletter]