A recording of Man's first landing on the moon boomed through the speakers as more than 150 people attended the launching ceremony of the School of Earth and Space Exploration Tuesday.
Though the school opened in July 2006, the formal celebration took place over a series of events Tuesday. The day was capped off with the inaugural Eugene Shoemaker Memorial Award presented to Harrison Schmitt, the 12th and last man to walk on the moon.
The new school integrates space and Earth sciences with engineering research in order to further understand and explore the frontiers of the Earth and universe, said founding director of SESE Kip Hodges.
"This will require tremendous collaboration across scientific disciplines," Hodges said. "As our school grows, we'll build the capacity to explore the great questions of space science."
The collaboration across various disciplines of education helps fill in gaps that a particular school doesn't understand, said geology and chemistry senior Amanda Turner.
"It's good to make disciplines come together," said Turner, who is a student of SESE. "It's productive for science."
Space is only one frontier SESE will explore, Hodges said.
"I am continually amazed by those who claim we have no frontiers left here on Earth," he said. "We know so little about our oceans, so little about the depths of our Earth or the top of our sky."
The questions and concepts students in SESE will tackle require a wide scope of knowledge, said ASU President Michael Crow.
"[These] fundamental concepts go beyond what any single discipline has the capacity to address or fully grasp," Crow said.
SESE represents many of the things that ASU as a University is trying to achieve, with the unconstrained environment where students can focus on what it is they truly want to do, Crow added.
Vice President and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Quentin Wheeler also compared the new school to ASU.
The school will emphasize collaboration both in and outside of the University, Hodges said.
"We will redefine the scope and breadth of graduate education and Earth and space exploration," he said. "Literally, the universe will be our campus."
The school celebrates the best of humanity; the urge to understand and explore new vistas, Hodges said.
"SESE is dedicated to the little girl who lies in her backyard, staring into the night sky, bathed in the soft glow of ancient starlight, and dreams of having tea with other little girls that might be out there staring back," he said.
Reach the reporter at: kyle.snow@asu.edu.
