The 2018 Drake Award

Online ticket sales for the Drake Award have ended.
If you would like to purchase tickets, please call the SETI Institute at
650-961-6633 before 12:00 noon on Thursday, June 14th.
In order to best serve our guests, no advance ticket reservations can be made after this time. Thank you for your cooperation, and for your support of the SETI Institute!

The SETI Institute’s Drake Award celebrates exemplary contributions to astrobiology through scientific research and space exploration. The award is named for Frank Drake, whose Drake Equation first identified the specific factors necessary for the emergence of life in the Universe and the evolution of technological civilizations. This honor is given at the discretion of the Board of Trustees of the SETI Institute, based on nominations from its Science Advisory Board. The honoree is presented a cash award and trophy, and is invited to describe their research at a public ceremony.

This year's event will honor Dr. Victoria S. Meadows,
a leader in the scientific analysis of environments on extrasolar planets,
and in the search for signs of habitability and life.

Thursday, June 14, 2018

General Admission Tickets $35 each or 2 for $60
VIP Tickets $70 each or 2 for $120
Sponsorship opportunities also available.
Proceeds benefit the SETI Institute, a nonprofit organization.

Your evening includes...

5:30pm VIP Meet-and-Greet
The SETI Institute's Board of Trustees invites sponsors and their guests to an exclusive gathering prior to the presentation. Please join us for hot hors d’oeuvres, hosted wine & beer, and photo opportunities with the award recipient.

6:00pm Public Reception
All attendees are invited to a hosted wine and cheese soiree in the atrium.

7:00pm The Drake Award Ceremony
With introductions from distinguished colleagues, and an engaging presentation by the award recipient, the evening’s program will offer exciting insights as we continue to ask, “are we alone?”

8:30pm Dessert Reception
Following the program and award presentation, we invite all our guests to sample sweets and treats in the atrium.

9:00 Evening Concludes

...About the Recipient...

VICTORIA S. MEADOWS is a Professor of Astronomy and the Director of the Astrobiology Graduate Program at the University of Washington. She also leads the NASA Astrobiology Institute Virtual Planetary Laboratory. Her research interests include theoretical modeling of terrestrial planetary environments to understand their habitability; the generation and detectability of planetary biosignatures and their false positives; and solar system planetary observations.

Dr. Meadows has served on research and mission teams at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute
of Technology, the NASA EPOXI mission, and the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field and Planetary Camera-2, among others. She is currently a member of the
Science and Technology Definition Team for the Large UV Optical Infrared
Survey Telescope concept, and serves on the National Academy of Sciences Committees for Astrobiology and Exoplanets.
She earned her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Sydney.