I just saw this event at UCF in early November. It’s by NSS. It has a picture of a greenhouse on the surface of Mars. It’s talking about settling Mars. And yet… am I just missing the Plant research and hardware development people in their lineup of speakers? I can’t know everyone in the field, but … I feel like there’s a big gap here!
Reminded me of @dr.richard.barker ‘s Settlers of Mars game.
Is anyone motivated to submit an abstract for one of their lightning talks? Might be fun!
Hey, I did my MS in Planetary Science at UCF, so I might be able to clarify why they are lacking in Bio!
They are really really focused on traditional ISRU, so prospecting, regolith features, and robotics. I wanted to do bioISRU and was recommended to swap PhD programs because UCF just don’t do a lot of plant and microbes research, so the organizers are probably just not plugged into this field.
This is very good to know. Thanks for the background. Looks like an area that is ripe.for.cross pollination.
I think it would be well received!
Yeah, it would be excellent opportunity for showing off my: ‘ Lunar Agricultural Sensing & Remote Operations in Radiation-Stressed Environments’
Abstract and the presentation, unfortunately it is absolutely impossible because this event has taking place so far away from my home country 
Also the prices are prohibitive - if I would also have to bare the costs of the travel, visa and accommodation etc then I would have to spend about 1/3 of my monthly income! Why this event has no option to virtual participation!?
It is really a shame that I have no option to take a part in this Summit!
I reached out to the conference organizers to find out if there’s really no virtual attendance option. I hope that there will be. The costs are astronomical (pun intended) for international attendees! Virtual is the smart way to go.
I agree 100%
