Abstract
We have forged a partnership with the journal Astrobiology, itself young and vigorous but already with an impact factor of 3.3 a major contributor to our field. This is an arrangement that will benefit both entities, spreading the word about the Society and enlarging the readership of the journal. The Society encourages its members to submit their manuscripts to the journal, helping to maintain the quality and the diversity of published papers.
Astrobiology is an innovative journal keen to reflect the interests of the community. It has recently implemented three new initiatives: Roundtable Discussions, Pioneers in Astrobiology, and The Experts Speak. The first Roundtable, which is published in this issue, is “The Next Phase in Our Search for Life—An Expert Discussion,” moderated by Christopher P. McKay, with participants Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Penelope Jane Boston, Inge L. ten Kate, Alfonso F. Davila, and Everett Shock. The first Pioneer to be featured is J. William Schopf.
We seek to collaborate with ISSOL and Bioastronomy to build on their long history. A particular issue that we think is important is the scope to further rationalize the scheduling and geographic spread of international meetings. The joint meeting of those two organizations in Montpellier in July 2011 (
We will encourage interdisciplinarity through structuring meetings so as to stimulate this, by inviting and supporting members to run events such as field trips explicitly open to diverse groups of astrobiologists, by encouraging discussion groups on our website, and so on.
Recently we have recognized an indefatigable pioneer of our Society, Dr. Rose Grymes, by electing her our first Honorary Life Member.
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