WHAT: DePaul University’s Space Science Center for Education & Public Outreach holds quarterly symposia for public school science teachers to support and enhance science curricula in the schools. Teachers K-12 will attend DePaul’s winter space science symposium on astrobiology, the study of life in the universe.

WHEN: Feb, 25, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

WHERE: Schmitt Academic Center, 2320 N. Kenmore Ave., Room 154.

HIGHLIGHTS: Academy Award-winning director James Cameron’s ocean exploration documentary “Aliens of the Deep,” will be screened from 9 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.

Kevin Hand, astrobiologist for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI) and one of the scientists who participated in the expedition for “Aliens of the Deep,” will conduct a 45-minute plenary session for the teachers at 9:50 a.m. following the showing of the film.

Hand’s research focuses on the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the solar system. He holds bachelor’s degrees in physics and psychology from Dartmouth College, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, and is a Ph.D. candidate in geological and environmental sciences at Stanford.

Barbara Laval, director of the Education & Public Outreach programs at the NASA-UCLA Center for Astrobiology, will introduce the film and Hand.

Breakout sessions for the symposium will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will involve the following scientists and topics: Richard E. Shope III, Carnegie Institution of Washington, “Organisms that Live in Harsh Environments”; Michele Bahr, astrobiology education and public outreach coordinator, Marine Biological Laboratory, “Astrobiology/Microbial Diversity”; and Pamela K. Harman, education and outreach manager, the SETI Institute, “Using Molecules to Determine Evolutionary Relationships Between Organisms.”

The sessions will be repeated from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.

BACKGROUND: DePaul’s NASA Space Science Center for Education and Outreach has served as the Midwest broker/facilitator for NASA since 1998.

NASA established the Space Science Education and Public Outreach program as part of an overall commitment to improving mathematics education and scientific and technological literacy in the United States.

Editor’s Note: Reporters who cover the event may contact on site, Marilee Kinsella, project manager for the space science center, at 773/520-4382 (mobile).