"Looking for extraterrestrial life on Earth" - Science Lecture
Science Lecture
"Looking for extraterrestrial life on Earth"
1:00-2:30 pm (optional field trip 2:30-4:00pm) Presented by Dr. Dawn Cardace - NASA Ames
Alien life forms in Lake County? Well, not really, but research is being conducted at the McLaughlin Reserve to better understand possible survival strategies for microbial life on other planets. On earth, microbes exist in some of the harshest possible environments--hot and cold vents in the deep seafloor, thick blankets of marine sediments on ocean floor rocks, caves and deep mines, perennial ice, high altitude and high radiation deserts...the list goes on. Studying such micro-organisms and learning about how their environments provide energy and nutrients to sustain them can help focus the search for life on other planets.
Please join us for a lecture by Dr. Dawn Cardace, an exobiologist working at NASA Ames and conducting research at the McLaughlin Reserve. Dawn has worked on the geochemistry of caves, where she got her first glimpse of extreme life in sulfur caves in the Tabasco region of Mexico, and on the interplay between the geochemistry, mineralogy, and biology of marine sediments. Her current work focuses on the surveying the geochemistry and microbiology 120 feet underground in subsurface rocks that are stranded blocks of ancient ocean crust. This survey will help to understand better how the deep biosphere on Earth works, and what it can tell us about the potential for life beyond Earth. Dawn will take us through the history of exobiology, and discuss some of the techniques key to the ongoing search for hints of life on other planets. After the lecture, for those who are interested, Dawn will take us to her research site on the Reserve to continue discussions of her work.
All lectures or events require registration. Space is limited, and registrations are accepted in the order they are received.
To sign up for a lecture or event, contact Cathy Koehler or Paul Aigner at (707) 995-9005, or mclaughlin@ucdavis.edu (and please provide names of all people wishing to attend, and a phone number and email where you can be reached).
"Looking for extraterrestrial life on Earth"
1:00-2:30 pm (optional field trip 2:30-4:00pm) Presented by Dr. Dawn Cardace - NASA Ames
Alien life forms in Lake County? Well, not really, but research is being conducted at the McLaughlin Reserve to better understand possible survival strategies for microbial life on other planets. On earth, microbes exist in some of the harshest possible environments--hot and cold vents in the deep seafloor, thick blankets of marine sediments on ocean floor rocks, caves and deep mines, perennial ice, high altitude and high radiation deserts...the list goes on. Studying such micro-organisms and learning about how their environments provide energy and nutrients to sustain them can help focus the search for life on other planets.
Please join us for a lecture by Dr. Dawn Cardace, an exobiologist working at NASA Ames and conducting research at the McLaughlin Reserve. Dawn has worked on the geochemistry of caves, where she got her first glimpse of extreme life in sulfur caves in the Tabasco region of Mexico, and on the interplay between the geochemistry, mineralogy, and biology of marine sediments. Her current work focuses on the surveying the geochemistry and microbiology 120 feet underground in subsurface rocks that are stranded blocks of ancient ocean crust. This survey will help to understand better how the deep biosphere on Earth works, and what it can tell us about the potential for life beyond Earth. Dawn will take us through the history of exobiology, and discuss some of the techniques key to the ongoing search for hints of life on other planets. After the lecture, for those who are interested, Dawn will take us to her research site on the Reserve to continue discussions of her work.
All lectures or events require registration. Space is limited, and registrations are accepted in the order they are received.
To sign up for a lecture or event, contact Cathy Koehler or Paul Aigner at (707) 995-9005, or mclaughlin@ucdavis.edu (and please provide names of all people wishing to attend, and a phone number and email where you can be reached).