(BERKELEY, California) ‒ Education startup Magnitude.io announced a multi-year collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) to advance the research impacts of the ExoLab astrobotany missions to the International Space Station. 

Researchers with the Joint Genome Institute (JGI), a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility located at Berkeley Lab, and others in the Biosciences Area, will utilize genomic and imaging strategies to analyze flight and ground samples for plant-microbe interactions based on environmental stressors, such as microgravity. 

Magnitude.io’s ExoLab is a network of ground-based science labs in formal and informal education centers around the world that are linked to a lab aboard the International Space Station. By conducting paired ground trials to the microgravity experiment, students deepen their understanding of Earth and environmental sciences while exploring through the wonder of spaceflight.

Magnitude.io CEO Ted Tagami remarked, “By collaborating with researchers at Berkeley Lab, we are transforming the future of learning and work. The space economy as well as sustainability on Earth require a new model of workforce development that is centered on authentic learning experiences for students today which prepares them for the world of tomorrow. Adding genomics to our research goals gives researchers and students an opportunity to collaborate at the edge of discovery.”

The collaboration will include Berkeley Lab researchers and administrators, Magnitude.io staff, subject matter experts, educators, and students in the United States and around the world. ExoLab-10 is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station in October 2022 with student ground trials beginning in March 2022. 

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Magnitude.io is a science education technology company that cultivates generations of brilliant scientists, engineers, and leaders through stellar STEM experiences igniting curiosity, inquiry, and ingenuity. With project-based learning, K-12 students engage in NGSS-aligned lessons and authentic research through ExoLab life sciences experiments on Earth and aboard the International Space Station.