ABSTRACT
My assignment at NASA Ames Research Center is to develop a program plan for a think tank, BEACON (BioEvolutionary Advanced Concepts for NASA), that brings together cross-disciplinary teams to conceive the next generation of NASA technology and scientific research across IT and Fundamental Biology. A “webtank” (think tank on the web) is being developed to support think tank activities. Prior to implementing a webtank for BEACON, I initiated collaboration with the SETI Institute on their development of a high school integrated science curriculum (astronomy, geology, biology, and the evolution of technology) where students explore how the concept of evolution underpins and integrates these disciplines. Curriculum requirements for the final Evolution of Technology module provided an opportunity to develop, pilot, and test a self-organizing collaborative web environment, or webtank, to be later adapted, augmented, and extended to support BEACON. SETI established a systematic method for pilot testing and field testing all elements of the curriculum, and so offered a useful webtank testbed.
