Margaret Turnbull, a former NASA Astrobiolgy Institute Postdoctoral Research Associate at DTM, was listed by CNN.com as one of "eight trailblazing scientists who are about to change your life." Turnbull earned a spot on this list for cataloging stars that would be likely to have planets harboring intelligent life. She began her search with 120,000 stars and ended with 100 candidates. The criteria included that the star be at least 3 billion years old and have a high metal content.

NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder, once approved and launched, will make use of Turnbull's list of candidate stars.