Space Grant Consortium - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

Abstract
New Directions in Astrobiology Education
VeraM. Kolb
Department of Chemistry
University of Wisconsin-Parkside
Kenosha, WI 53141
In this paper we report on the new directions we are taking in the project on the infusion
of astrobiology in the organic chemistry curriculum. There are two major initiatives. The
first is on the connection between astrobiology and green chemistry. The second is the
diversity initiative, in which we examine some key astrobiology discoveries made by the
scientists from diverse ethnic and racial groups.
Introduction and Background
The author has received several grants from the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium on
the subject of the introduction of astrobiology in the organic chemistry courses. Much
has been achieved (Kolb 2004, 2006 a, 2006 b, 2008). However, more remains to be
done.
The first obstacle of introducing astrobiology in the chemistry curriculum at our
institution is that our chemistry program is not amenable to any major changes. Our
chemistry curriculum is rather lengthy and rigid. Not much can be added, and very little
can be deleted. This is due to the American Chemical Society accreditation
requirements. We have somewhat bypassed this obstacle by substituting some chemical
examples with the astrobiological ones, when they served the same purpose. For
example, the Lewis structures are a major topic in the Organic I course, and require that
representations of various atoms and molecules include the dots for the electrons. Instead
of using standard examples of the Lewis structures from the textbook, we were able to
substitute these with the structures of the interstellar molecules. However, the
possibilities for such substitutions of material are limited.
The second problem in addressing astrobiology within the chemistry curriculum is on the
inclusion of the newest and most exciting astrobiology discoveries without need to
rework the entire teaching module on the required chemistry topic. This problem can be
overcome by assigning students a special topics paper on the subject of astrobiology. We
have assigned such papers in both regular and advanced organic chemistry courses. The
students liked these projects and most of the students produced high quality papers.
Another way to introduce the newest astrobiology topics into the organic chemistry was
to tap into and utilize the requirement for the library research via the Science Scholar
Finder search engine (which includes the Chemical Abstracts, and is thus mandated by
the American Chemical Society for the accreditation). This approach was also
successful. However, a need still exists for a broader inclusion of the hot astrobiology
topics into the chemistry curriculum.
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