SETI Institute Awards Education Grant through the STRIDE Program

October 1, 2024, Mountain View, CA – The SETI Institute awarded its first education grant through its Support Technology, Research, Innovation, Development and Education (STRIDE) program. The grant supports a new project called Encountering Stars in an Inflatable Planetarium, which will offer immersive astronomy and astrobiology experiences for elementary and middle school students in low-income areas and high school and adult audiences interested in STEM-related experiences. The program also includes a training workshop for K-12 teachers and community college volunteers. It aims to encourage students in high school to start a STEM career pathway by participating in the Evergreen Valley College (EVC) Dual Enrollment Program. 

The SETI Institute established the $500K STRIDE fund for SETI Institute researchers and EOC (Education, Outreach, and Communications) professionals to develop innovative research and education proposals. In July 2024, the SETI Institute announced the first STRIDE science grants.

Dr. Margaret Race leads this project with Dr. Celso Batalha at Evergreen Valley College (EVC) in San Jose, CA. Together, they will recruit and train EVC students to bring the inflatable planetarium to schools and other sites. Dr. Dana Backman of the SETI Institute will develop the training workshop for teachers and EVC students.

"Dr. Race has been a passionate advocate for STEAM education throughout her career in planetary protection, volunteering her time in classrooms and libraries to engage young learners," said Ms. Pamela Harman, Director of Education at the SETI Institute. "This STRIDE award enables her to bring a planetarium program to students and educators, inspiring them with views of the night sky and our research stories."

STRIDE grants include funding for basic research, technology development, prototyping, equipment and instrumentation, field expedition work, education program development, materials, hardware, software, and more. Last year, the SETI Institute announced a philanthropic gift of $200M from the estate of Franklin Antonio, a visionary supporter and catalyst of the work of the SETI Institute for more than 12 years. Co-founder of communications chip company Qualcomm, Antonio left an extraordinary legacy to enable breakthrough science in the search for intelligent life beyond our world. The Franklin Antonio Bequest funds the STRIDE program, and the SETI Institute expects to solicit it annually.

The STRIDE grant will fund Encountering Stars for one year.

About the SETI Institute
Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary research and education organization whose mission is to lead humanity’s quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe and to share that knowledge with the world. Our research encompasses the physical and biological sciences and leverages expertise in data analytics, machine learning and advanced signal detection technologies. The SETI Institute is a distinguished research partner for industry, academia and government agencies, including NASA and NSF.

Contact information
Rebecca McDonald
Director of Communications
SETI Institute
[email protected]

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