The First Billion Years: Habitability conference will be held in Big Sky, Montana from September 8 – 12.  The conference focuses on habitability, producing conditions conducive to life, the emergence of life on Earth, the potential for the emergence of life on other solar system bodies, and extensions to extrasolar systems. The conference format is intended to foster multi- and interdisciplinary discussion on the processes and physical conditions that affected the development of potentially habitable environments during the first billion years, how such environments evolved over time, and how such ideas may be tested with current and future laboratory measurements, field studies, astronomical observations, and spacecraft missions.

A one-day excursion to Yellowstone National Park is planned to explore the biologic potential of hydrothermal systems in volcanic settings and to discuss a similar potential in impact-generated hydrothermal systems that may have existed during the dawn of life nearly 4 billion years ago.

The abstract deadline is July 3 at 5pm CDT.