Frontiers in Prebiotic Chemistry and Early Earth Environments

The Prebiotic Chemistry and Early Earth Environments (PCE) Consortium is a community of researchers seeking to understand the origins of life on Earth and in the universe. PCE is one of five Research Coordination Networks (RCNs) within NASA's Astrobiology Program. Here we report on the inaugural PCE workshop, intended to cross-pollinate, transfer information, promote cooperation, break down disciplinary barriers, identify new directions, and foster collaborations. This workshop, entitled, "Building a New Foundation", was designed to propagate current knowledge, identify possibilities for multidisciplinary collaboration, and ultimately define paths for future collaborations. Presentations addressed the likely conditions on early Earth in ways that could be incorporated into prebiotic chemistry experiments and conceptual models to improve their plausibility and accuracy. Additionally, the discussions that followed among workshop participants helped to identify within each subdiscipline particularly impactful new research directions. At its core, the foundational knowledge base presented in this workshop should underpin future workshops and enable collaborations that bridge the many disciplines that are part of PCE.