Celebrating 25 Years of Exoplanet Astrobiology: Welcoming the Virtual Planetary Laboratory to its New Home at the SETI Institute.

The Virtual Planetary Laboratory (VPL), one of NASA's flagship astrobiology research teams, has officially moved its institutional home to the SETI Institute. In 2026 the VPL will also celebrate its 25th anniversary, making the transition a moment to celebrate both a remarkable legacy and a bright future. We are thrilled to welcome VPL to the SETI Institute community and to introduce the many talented scientists and researchers who are now part of our team.

A New Home for the Virtual Planetary Laboratory

VPL Principal Investigator Dr. Victoria Meadows leads the team. Transitioning to the SETI Institute she is joined by Co-Investigators Dr. Andrew Lincowski and Dr. Eric Wolf, VPL Scientist Dr. Nick Wogan, Collaborator Dr. Kim Bott, and Project Administrator Dr. Hannah Dawson. Together they bring expertise in climate and photochemical modeling, biosignature science, and more.

Advancing the Search for Life Beyond Earth

VPL's mission has always centered on a single driving question: "How can we best assess whether an exoplanet supports life?" Over 25 years, the team has developed advanced models of planetary atmospheres and biosignatures. They have tackled the challenge of distinguishing true signs of life from false positives and have provided a scientific foundation for future space missions that will study exoplanets and search for signs of life.

Four Research Tasks, One Astrobiology Mission

VPL will continue advancing their research mission at the SETI Institute. To accomplish this, four complementary research tasks, funded by NASA’s Interdisciplinary Consortia for Astrobiology Research (ICAR) program support this work. Together, these efforts span three core areas of biosignature science: identifying potential exoplanet biosignatures, determining how to detect them, and assessing whether they truly indicate life.

The Identify task investigates early Earth environments to uncover new potential biosignatures relevant to exoplanets. The Interpret task studies abiotic processes that can mimic signs of life and develops the statistical frameworks needed to evaluate biosignatures within their planetary context. Together, these efforts focus on identifying possible signs of life.

The Detect task explores how biosignatures and their environmental context can be optimally observed by differentobservatories, including JWST and the future Habitable Worlds Observatory.

Finally, the Assess task evaluates how reliably biological and abiotic origins of biosignatures can be distinguished in both simulated and real telescope data, for individual planets and planetary populations.

Building Toward the Habitable Worlds Observatory

VPL members are deeply embedded in the science and mission formulation of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), NASA's next-generation flagship mission concept for directly imaging and characterizing potentially habitable exoplanets. Currently, Dr. Meadows (SETI Institute) and Dr. Tyler Robinson (UofA) serve on the Community Science and Instrument Team (CSIT), chaired by VPL Co-I Dr. Evgenya Shkolnik (ASU), while VPL team members Dr. Giada Arney (NASA GSFC), Dr. Aki Roberge (NASA GSFC), Dr. Niki Parenteau (NASA Ames) and Dr. Chris Stark (NASA GSFC) are members of the HWO Project Team. VPL team members also held leadership roles across HWO community groups, including the Living Worlds group which worked to define the observatory's astrobiology science case.

The move to the SETI Institute has also opened new funding opportunities for VPL researchers. Two VPL-based proposal teams were recently selected for funding through the SETI Institute STRIDE program, established in 2024 to support high-risk, high-reward research and education concepts. Dr. Lincowski, together with Dr. Meadows and Dr. Wolf, will advance next-generation climate modeling by integrating VPL's SMART spectral tool with the ExoCAM general circulation model, improving the accuracy and flexibility of 3D modeling for planetary and exoplanetary studies. In a second STRIDE award, Dr. Meadows will lead a think tank initiative, with Dr. Natalie Batalha, Dr. Natasha Batalha, Dr. Lincowski, Dr. Wogan, and Dr. Dawson, to build a community collaborative framework bridging exoplanet observers and theorists to accelerate our understanding of small, potentially habitable worlds.

Looking Ahead: The Next Chapter of VPL

Explore the full VPL team, their research, and recent publications at the new VPL website at the SETI Institute: seti.org/vpl. To better understand the breadth of expertise VPL brings to the SETI Institute, visit the VPL team page at seti.org/vpl. As VPL continues to grow, early-career researchers should stay tuned for upcoming opportunities to join VPL at the SETI Institute. Here's to 25 years of VPL, and to everything still to come.