NSS to Award Dr. Robert Ferl and Dr. Anna-Lisa Paul the Space Pioneer Award at its Annual ISDC Conference
The International Space Development Conference Will Be Held in Orlando in June 2025
The National Space Society is awarding its 2025 Space Pioneer Award for Scientific Achievement to University of Florida researchers Dr. Robert Ferl and Dr. Anna-Lisa Paul for their pioneering work in plant space biology, which was flown by Ferl on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket in August, 2024. The photo above, courtesy Blue Origin, shows Dr. Paul (to left) and Dr. Ferl with the experimental tubes (foreground) shortly after touchdown.
The award—which will be presented at the NSS annual International Space Development Conference in Orlando, Florida in June—recognizes individuals and teams who have made significant contributions to the development of a “spacefaring civilization that will establish communities beyond the Earth.”
Ferl is a distinguished professor and director of UF’s Astraeus Space Institute and is the recipient of NASA’s Exceptional Public Service Medal. Paul is a research professor and director of UF’s Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research and received the NASA Medal of Honor for Exceptional Scientific Achievement.
“Robert Ferl and Anna-Lisa Paul were already big names worldwide in the field of plant space biology,” said Dr. Pascal Lee, NSS VP for Planetary Development, “but this recent human spaceflight experiment, the culmination of years of scientific research and planning, opens big doors for future human space travel and settlement and confirms them as true pioneers of space exploration.”