Mission: Exoplanets · Program Newsletter · Issue 02 · June 2026
Searching for Life
and Meaning in the Cosmos
An interdisciplinary STEAM initiative exploring life, meaning, and humanity's place in the cosmos. Co-developed by the University of San Francisco and Canary Global Foundation.
The Moment the Course Came Alive
When astronomy meets
the world we live in
Toward the end of the semester, a student who had grown up in Hawaii stood at the front of the class and presented on the controversy surrounding the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. They had been part of the protests themselves. They spoke about what it means when the scientific community's ambition to peer deeper into the universe comes into direct conflict with the rights and sacred traditions of Indigenous communities on Earth. The room was quiet in a way that only happens when something has genuinely landed.
That moment captured what Mission: Exoplanets is designed to produce: students who arrive curious about space and leave asking harder questions about power, responsibility, culture, and what it means to search for life beyond a planet we have not yet learned to share equitably.
It was, as Prof. Marcelo Camperi described it, one of the course's most defining moments: the intensity with which students engaged with Indigenous traditions, the right to a dark sky, and the disruption of local communities by large observatory construction. It was not what anyone predicted. It was exactly what the course was built for.
"Understanding what we are going to do with the knowledge that we acquire as a society and how that can make us better, considering the possibility of who we are in the universe with humility rather than fear. That is why I think a course like this one is very relevant in the moment we are living in science."
Prof. Marcelo Camperi · Physics and Astronomy · University of San Francisco
A student presents on the Thirty Meter Telescope controversy and Indigenous land rights on Mauna Kea
The Partnership
How USF and Canary Global
built this together
Mission: Exoplanets was developed through a close collaboration between the University of San Francisco and the Canary Global Foundation. Both institutions shaped the program from the ground up: its interdisciplinary vision, its curriculum, its network of contributors, and its connection to real astronomical infrastructure.
USF provided the academic home, the Honors College Forum structure, and the faculty expertise that made the course rigorous and accredited. Canary Global Foundation brought the international network, the scientific and cultural connections, and the link to the Light Bridges robotic telescope facilities at Teide Observatory in the Canary Islands, giving students exposure to professional observatory practices and access to curated astronomical datasets from those facilities. The result is a program that neither institution could have built alone.
Canary Global Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing international collaboration in astronomy, science, technology, and education. Few undergraduate programs combine astronomy, ethics, Indigenous perspectives, creative practice, and access to professional observatory infrastructure within a single learning experience. Together, the two organizations developed a model intended not only for a single course, but as a framework that could eventually be adapted by universities, community colleges, and international educational institutions. Mission: Exoplanets is intended not simply as a successful course, but as a scalable educational model that can be adapted through partnerships with universities, observatories, and educational institutions worldwide.
Program at a Glance
The inaugural cohort
The first cohort ran as an Honors College Forum at USF in Spring 2026, enrolling 20 students in an immersive interdisciplinary curriculum. USF has confirmed its enthusiasm for offering the course again, and the program is designed to grow.
USF Honors students in the inaugural cohort
Interdisciplinary sessions across six thematic areas
Equal partners bringing complementary expertise through a shared international mission
Robotic telescope facilities at Teide Observatory providing students with access to professional astronomical infrastructure
The Student Pathway
From first light
to original reflection
Every student moved through a structured arc combining scientific literacy, ethical reasoning, cultural perspective, and creative expression, concluding with original presentations connecting exoplanet science to questions of human meaning and responsibility.
A selection of student final project topics: The Devil Wears Stars, Organosilicon: An Alternate Biochemistry, Simulating Outer Worlds, An Ethic of Care Beyond Earth, Aliens in Film, and more
Curriculum
Six thematic areas,
one central question
Thirteen sessions led by an international network of scientists, educators, artists, and scholars, approaching the search for life through six interconnected areas of inquiry.
Exoplanet Science
Detection methods, spectroscopy, biosignatures, habitability, and what it means to find a world that could support life
Observatories and Data
Curated datasets from the Light Bridges robotic telescope facilities at Teide Observatory, introducing students to how modern observatories acquire and interpret astronomical data
Indigenous Perspectives
Sky traditions, dark sky stewardship, and the rights of communities whose lands host observatories
Theology and Ethics
Interfaith and philosophical frameworks for what discovering extraterrestrial life would mean for humanity
SETI and Governance
Technosignatures, the Arecibo Message, and the question of who speaks for Earth
Creativity and Expression
Data sonification, astronomy-inspired fashion, AI-generated worlds, and the cosmos as artistic subject
What Students Made
Unexpected questions,
original answers
The final presentations were the highest-rated component of the entire course. Students used astronomy as a starting point for questions that no single discipline could answer alone. One student reinterpreted the Arecibo Message and asked what it reveals about humanity that this is what we chose to say about ourselves when we first attempted to contact extraterrestrial intelligence. Another examined how light pollution disrupts wildlife, migration patterns, and insect populations, connecting dark sky preservation to ecological justice. Others examined who has the right to announce the discovery of exolife, what ethical responsibilities we would bear toward microbial organisms on other worlds, and how the search for life beyond Earth raises urgent questions of justice much closer to home.
Prof. Camperi described the range of topics as a delight and an impression: students had taken the course's central question and made it genuinely their own.
Student Voices
In their own words
"I really really loved hearing the theological perspectives not just from Catholic thought but actually from indigenous perspectives on the sky. That was something that I wasn't familiar with coming into this experience. And so that was an especially valuable part of it for me."
Jonathan · Architecture, Fourth Year · USF
"Being able to academically challenge myself and to dip my toes in different ways of learning about the world... through the hard sciences, through the humanities and through social sciences has been really interesting and eye opening."
Paul Wong · Nursing Major · USF
"The course just blew my expectations... learning the many different perspectives of astronomy, how different cultures use astronomy in their spiritual practices, how it ties into ethics and religion."
Zion Amed · Neuroscience, First Year · USF
"We approach it in different types of themes, scientific, but also moral and ethical. I think that's why it's really interesting and everyone should take this class."
Sophia Daron · Environmental Science · USF
"Hearing about the different perspectives and opinions of other people, it just creates this wonderful community environment of continuous learning... especially because they're all in different majors."
Jasmine Lopez · Public Health, Third Year · USF
Student Experience
What the numbers actually show
15 of 20 responding students completed the end-of-course survey. Every item averaged above 5 out of 6. The headline finding: 12 of 15 responding students gave the maximum possible score when asked whether the course increased their interest in questions about life beyond Earth. No responding student rated scientific accessibility below 4.
of responding students rated increased interest in life beyond Earth at 5 or 6 out of 6
found scientific material accessible. No responding student rated below 4 out of 6
reported the course deepened how they think about humanity's place in the universe
felt invited to connect course ideas to their own values, beliefs, and experiences
Looking Inward
What we are deepening
Students overwhelmingly supported the course and identified clear opportunities to go further. They asked for more time engaging with professional observatory operations and observational data, more collaborative exercises, more discussion time within sessions, and a more explicitly comparative and interfaith approach to the theology and worldview modules. These are not corrections to something that failed. They are the requests of students who were engaged enough to want more.
The post-class written reflections were among the most valued elements of the course, described by students as a genuine space for wondering, processing, and thinking beyond the lecture. That spirit of critical and curious engagement is exactly what the program is designed to cultivate, and it will continue to shape how the course evolves.
"Mission: Exoplanets uses the search for life beyond Earth as a framework for exploring a deeper question: how humanity prepares for discovery. The goal is not simply to learn about other worlds, but to reflect on how new knowledge can shape our understanding of ourselves, our societies, and our future."
Adolfo Nemirovsky · Canary Global Foundation
As discoveries in exoplanets, astrobiology, and artificial intelligence continue to accelerate, questions once considered speculative are becoming increasingly relevant to education, public discourse, and scientific responsibility.
What Comes Next
Building on what worked
The student response to this inaugural course has been clear: there is genuine enthusiasm for its continuation and a strong appetite to go deeper. Students asked for more observatory engagement, more collaborative discussion, and a more expansive range of perspectives. Those requests are not just encouraging, they are the roadmap for what comes next.
Building on the success of the inaugural cohort, USF and Canary Global Foundation are exploring future implementations while refining the model based on student and contributor feedback.
Integrating Student Feedback
The primary focus for the next iteration is implementing the feedback gathered from students and guest contributors during this first year.
Deeper Observatory Engagement
Students asked for more hands-on engagement with Light Bridges robotic telescope facilities at Teide Observatory. Future iterations may include live telescope sessions, remote observing opportunities, and expanded access made possible through Light Bridges' commitment of telescope observing time to Canary Global Foundation.
Exploring Partnerships
The team is exploring pathways for future implementation beyond USF, including universities, community colleges, and international educational partners.
A Closing Thought
We are only just beginning to listen
Every student who moved through this course has contributed to something larger than any individual result. The search for life beyond Earth is not merely a scientific program. It is an invitation to ask what it means to be human in a universe that may be far more alive than we imagined.
What USF and Canary Global Foundation have built together is a course that asks students to carry that question across disciplinary lines, into their own fields, their own values, and their own lives. A student who came to learn about exoplanets and ended up speaking about justice, land rights, and the sky above their home island: that is the course working exactly as it was designed to.
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News, program updates, and the latest from our partners at the Light Bridges robotic telescope facilities at Teide Observatory and beyond.
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