Free CE program services to the incarcerated- May 10
Sally Stieglitz
Join us to learn more about one of NASA’s most unique educational programs: Astrobiology for the Incarcerated.
Astrobiology for the Incarcerated is an educational program that teaches incarcerated communities about the resiliency and transformative history of life on Earth, and the search for life beyond our planet…which may be especially relevant to people within incarcerated facilities. The story of our cosmic origins illustrates our fundamental interconnectivity and relationality, and highlights that we're all capable of transformation and change. Through Astrobiology for the Incarcerated, we can share these messages embedded in the science: that adaptability and resilience, in even the harshest environments, is not just possible, but fundamental to the nature of life itself.
There are over two million incarcerated adults and 50,000 young people in juvenile justice facilities in the United States, and those communities traditionally have little access to educational resources. The prison system also disproportionately incarcerates African American and Latinx individuals, who make up 57% of inmates despite only being 29% of the population. Upon release, formerly incarcerated individuals face strong societal biases that make employment difficult and a return to prison in the future common. Through an extended jury duty experience, program lead Daniella Scalice grew more aware of these inequities within the justice and carceral systems. This spurred her to propose using the existing tools, mission, and platform of NASA to build meaningful relationships between the space science community and people incarcerated in the prison system.
Using data collected from the program’s lectures, research published in the journal Astrobiology showed participants not only held onto what they learned, but thought of science as more a part of their lives and identity than they had previously—and expressed a desire to engage more with science in the future.
Presenter:
Daniella Scalice is the Education and Communications Lead for NASA’s Astrobiology Program. Her background is in molecular biology and filmmaking. Her work is devoted to ensuring youth of all colors, cultures, genders, abilities, walks of life, and ways of loving and praying have equal access to opportunities in STEM, and are supported to excel in everything they do, especially toward healthy social, cultural, and economic lifeways. Daniella lives and works on the lands of the Piscataway People in the occupied territories known today as Annapolis, Maryland.
This program is being presented in cooperation with NASA's Solar System Ambassador program. For more information on the program, visit https://solarsystem1.jpl.nasa.gov/ssa/home.cfm
