Exploring Galactic Ecosystem -- the Transformative Wellsprings of Stars, Planets, and Life

This is a poster presented at the 7th Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education, organised by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE, https://astro4edu.org/shaw-iau/7th-shaw-iau-workshop/). Title: Exploring Galactic Ecosystem -- the Transformative Wellsprings of Stars, Planets, and Life Presenter:William Waller (Endicott College and The Galactic Inquirer) It is not hyperbole to state that galactic ecosystems have spawned pretty much everything that we hold dear – including ourselves. These nebular nurseries have incubated all the stars, planetary systems, and many of the complex molecules known to humanity. From there, the myriad of planets in orbit around their hosting stars have further refined the organic matter into even more complex biochemicals. On the surface of one particularly moist planet, life took hold, and evolutionary processes led to you and me collectively pondering the wonders of galactic ecosystems under dark skies and in vivid astronomical images. In this presentation, I will introduce galactic ecosystems of varying size and what they can tell us about our cosmic origins. About the 7th Shaw-IAU Workshop:The 7th Shaw-IAU Workshop took place 18 - 21 November 2025. The Shaw-IAU workshops focus on astronomy education for primary and secondary school students and teacher training both in universities and in service. This year's Education focus session on Teaching with authentic data and the Science focus is on Galaxies.More details can be found on: https://astro4edu.org/shaw-iau/Keep up to date with future Shaw-IAU Workshops and other opportunities at the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education by joining our mailing list https://astro4edu.org/mailing-list/ Follow the IAU OAE on Bluesky and Facebook under @astro4edu