{"123401":{"#nid":"123401","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Hosts FameLab Astrobiology Final Competition","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EApril 10, 2012 \u003C\/em\u003E\u2013 Georgia Institute of Technology will host the Famelab Astrobiology Finals, Monday April 16, 7-9 p.m., in the Grand Ballroom of the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center. The event is free and open to the public.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFamelab Astrobiology is a science communication competition intended to encourage up-and-coming new scientists to hone their skills in communicating complex scientific concepts to public audiences.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENichelle Nichols, known for her portrayal of Lt. Uhura in the original \u201cStar Trek\u201d television series, will host this event, which also will be webcast live and broadcast on NASA TV.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFameLab Astrobiology finalists will have three minutes to explain a science topic of their choice to a public audience \u2013 no slides, no charts, and only props they can carry onstage. A panel of experts in science and science communication will judge the competition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince January more than 70 early-career astrobiologists have competed in Famelab Astrobiology preliminary competitions in Houston, Denver, Washington, D.C., and online. The \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.astrobio.net\/paleblueblog\/?p=990\u0022\u003E10 finalists\u003C\/a\u003E, from all over the country, will compete in the Atlanta finals. The winner in Atlanta will compete in International \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/famelab.org\/\u0022\u003EFameLab\u003C\/a\u003E\u2019s final competition in the U.K. this summer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Atlanta finals are the culmination of the first annual Famelab Astrobiology competition, sponsored by NASA\u2019s Astrobiology Program. Famelab Astrobiology, an offshoot of International FameLab, aims to provide experience and training in science communication to the next generation of astrobiologists.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe FameLab Astrobiology competition is being held in conjunction with AbSciCon 2012, an astrobiology science conference with over 750 attendees taking place on the campus of Georgia Tech. \u0026nbsp;Loren Williams, Ph.D., professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Eric Gaucher, Ph.D., associate professor from the School of Biology at Georgia Tech are the co-chairs of the conference.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; The AbSciCon conference, held every two years, focuses on the multidisciplinary field of astrobiology \u2013 the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe \u2013 and highlights research supported by NASA\u0027s Astrobiology Program.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAbSciCon 2012 on Twitter: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/#%21\/AbSciCon12\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/AbSciCon12\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAbSciCon 2012 on Facebook :\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AbSciCon2012\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AbSciCon2012\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Institute of Technology will host the Famelab Astrobiology Finals, Monday April 16, 7-9 pm, in the Grand Ballroom of the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center. The event is free and open to the public."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology will host the Famelab Astrobiology Finals, Monday April 16, 7-9 p.m., in the Grand Ballroom of the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center. The event is free and open to the public.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Institute of Technology will host the Famelab Astrobiology Finals, Monday April 16, 7-9 pm, in the Grand Ballroom of the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center. The event is free and open to the public."}],"uid":"27224","created_gmt":"2012-04-11 11:11:42","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:00","author":"Megan McDevitt","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-04-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-04-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"123411":{"id":"123411","type":"image","title":"FameLab","body":null,"created":"1449178582","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:36:22","changed":"1475894743","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:43","alt":"FameLab","file":{"fid":"194434","name":"50289_409038049121925_8186518_n.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/50289_409038049121925_8186518_n_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/50289_409038049121925_8186518_n_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":6446,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/50289_409038049121925_8186518_n_0.jpg?itok=abK4WPZv"}}},"media_ids":["123411"],"related_links":[{"url":"internal:\/!\/AbSciCon12","title":"Twitter"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AbSciCon2012","title":"AbSciCon Facebook"},{"url":"http:\/\/livestream.com\/FameLabAstrobiology","title":"View Live Webcast"}],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"12963","name":"AbSciCon"},{"id":"5079","name":"Eric Gaucher"},{"id":"29931","name":"FameLab"},{"id":"10720","name":"Loren Williams"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:megan.mcdevitt@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EMegan Graziano McDevitt\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMarketing Communications Director\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering \u0026amp; Bioscience\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-7001\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:%20libillin@gwu.edu\u0022\u003ELinda Billings\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESchool of Media and Public Affairs\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorge Washington University\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EChair, AbSciCon 2012 \u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Committee\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["mcdevitt@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}