Who We Are

The Society for Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology (SSoCIA) is an organization dedicated to the rigorous exploration of the many broader issues surrounding astrobiology and space exploration more generally. We are a growing community, with over 150 active members from an array of different areas:  academics in natural science, social science, and the humanities; professionals working in both public and private aspects of the space industry; and experts in the communication, education, and science fiction communities. Our goal is to foster serious, thoughtful engagement with these complex issues in an informal and friendly atmosphere.

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Our first conference was at Clemson University in 2016 and our second was at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2018.  We originally planned our third conference for 2020 to be hosted at the University of Mississippi, but COVID-19 presented many obstacles. As a result, SSoCIA 2020 was hosted digitally. The benefit of this is that the most complete archive of that conference is available for you to view. Our fourth conference, which will also be our first international gathering, is being planned for either Finland or Estonia some time in 2022.