Institute for Planets and Life

Planets, Life, and the Universe Lecture Series

The Planets, Life, and the Universe lecture series brings high-profile speakers to the JHU/STScI campus to discuss current topics of interest in astrobiology and draws a large and steadily increasing audience. The lectures are presented live online and are also available for viewing on the website afterwards.

Next Series Presentation

TBA

Nigel Goldenfeld (University of Illinois, Department of Physics)
October 07, 2016 at 12:30pm · STScI Bahcall Auditorium

Planets, Life, and the Universe Lecture Series presentations are also webcast live. Webcasts can be viewed at the STScI webcast site during the scheduled presentation, and can be found afterward in the STScI webcast archive along with any presentation notes provided by the speaker.

If you would like to participate in the discussion session following the lecture, please email us at astrobiology@jhu.edu providing your name, affiliation, and phone number at least 24 hours in advance of the lecture.

Series Schedule Series Abstracts | Lecture Locations | Archived Webcasts

Light lunch (provided) starts at 12pm; talk starts at 12:30pm.

Date	Location	Presentation
Dec 02, 2016 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	TBA Nathalie A. Cabrol (Director, Carl Sagan Center, SETI Institute)
Nov 04, 2016 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	The Exoclimes Simulation Platform Kevin Heng (University of Bern, Center for Space and Habitability, Exoplanets and Exoclimes Group)
Oct 07, 2016 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	TBA Nigel Goldenfeld (University of Illinois, Department of Physics)
Apr 01, 2016 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Getting Under Europa's Skin: Radar, Robots and the Search for Life beyond Earth Britney Schmidt (Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences)
Mar 04, 2016 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	From Geochemistry to Biochemistry: Simulating Prebiotic Chemistry Driven by Geochemical Gradients in Alkaline Hydrothermal Vents Laurie Barge ( Planetary Science Division, Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
Feb 05, 2016 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Unearthing the Astrochemical Heritage of Solar System Ices Ilse Cleeves (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Dec 04, 2015 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Is The Universe A Lonely Place? Shawn Domagal-Goldman (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Sciences and Exploration Directorate)
Oct 02, 2015 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Searching for, or Creating Ourselves, a Second Example of Life Steven Benner (Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution)
May 01, 2015 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Life on Super-Earths William Bains (Program in Atmospheres, Oceans and Climate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Apr 03, 2015 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Great Escape from Mars: Planet Lost an Ocean�s Worth of Water Dr. Geronimo Villanueva (Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
Mar 06, 2015 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Searching for Life Around Saturn Jonathan Lunine (Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University)
Dec 05, 2014 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	The NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program: the Search for Planets, Habitability, and Life in our Galaxy Gary H. Blackwood (Exoplanet Exploration Program, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology)
Nov 07, 2014 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Observing the Structure, Evolution, and Habitability of Low-Mass Exoplanets Zachory K. Berta-Thompson (Torres Fellow for Exoplanetary Research, MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research)
Oct 03, 2014 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Anoxygenic Growth of Cyanobacteria on Fe(II) and their Associated Biosignatures: Implications for Biotic Contributions to Precambrian Iron Formations (and Mars?) Niki Parenteau (NASA Ames Research Center/SETI)
Apr 04, 2014 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Blood Falls: Portal Into An Antarctic Subglacial Microbial World Jill Mikucki (Dept. of Microbiology, University of Tennessee)
Mar 07, 2014 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Titan: Ingredients for Life Catherine Neish (Florida Institute of Technology)
Feb 07, 2014 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Compositions and Temperatures of Exoplanet Atmospheres with HST/WFC3 Avi Mandell (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
Dec 06, 2013 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	What Happens to the Human Body in Space -- And What To Do About It Mark Shelhamer (Depts of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery/Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Chief Scientist, NASA Human Research Program)
Nov 01, 2013 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Icy Origins: Snowlines During Star and Planet Formation Karin I. �berg (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Oct 04, 2013 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Characterization of Exoplanetary Atmospheres and Interiors Nikku (Madhu) Madhusudhan (Yale University)
May 03, 2013 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Habitable Zones and the Frequency of Potential Habitable Planets in Extrasolar Planetary Systems Ravi Kumar Kopparapu (Department of Geosciences, Penn State University)
Apr 05, 2013 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Life Underground Jan Amend (Department of Earth Sciences and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California)
Mar 01, 2013 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Follow Your Curiosity: The Search for Habitable Environments on Mars Daniel Glavin (Planetary Environments Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
Feb 01, 2013 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	The Real 1%: Volatiles in Planetary Accretion and the Rapid Development of Habitability Lindy Elkins-Tanton (Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington)
Nov 02, 2012 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	In Quest of the Habitable Zone Planets Around M Dwarfs Suvrath Mahadevan (Dept. of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Penn State University)
Oct 05, 2012 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Ascent of the Proteome in Ancient Life Aaron Goldman (Princeton University)
May 04, 2012 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	The Phylogenomic Record: Reconstructing the Timing and Mechanisms of Early Life Evolution Greg Fournier (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Apr 06, 2012 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	The Deep Biosphere in Igneous Oceanic Crust Katrina Edwards (University of Southern California)
Mar 02, 2012 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Planets in the 'Habitable Zones' of White Dwarfs Eric Agol (University of Washington)
Feb 03, 2012 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Direct Imaging and Spectroscopy of Young Giant Planets Travis Barman (Lowell Observatory)
Dec 04, 2011 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Origin of Earth's Water Karen Meech (University of Hawaii)
Nov 04, 2011 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Exploring New Worlds: The Search for and Characterization of Planets Beyond the Solar System Daniel Apai (University of Arizona)
Oct 07, 2011 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	The Search for Life On Mars...A Search for the Origin of Life on Earth? Andrew Steele (Carnegie Institution for Science)
May 06, 2011 12:00p - 2:30p	JHU Mudd Hall 101	A Common Origin for Organic Solids in Primitive Solar System Objects: Comets, Interplanetary Dust Particles, and Primitive Chondritic Meteorites George Cody (Carnegie Institution for Science)
Apr 08, 2011 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	The Major Transitions In Evolution: A Physiological Perspective Andrew Knoll (Harvard University)
Mar 18, 2011 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Mineral Surfaces, Geochemical Complexities, and the Origins of Life Robert Hazen (Carnegie Institution for Science)
Feb 04, 2011 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	The Virtual Planetary Laboratory: Modeling Signs of Habitability and Life on Extrasolar Planets Vikki Meadows (University of Washington)
Dec 10, 2010 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	How to Find a Habitable Planet James Kasting (Penn State University)
Nov 12, 2010 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Did Earth Lose Its Balance Before The First Animals Evolved? Adam Maloof (Princeton University)
Oct 08, 2010 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Follow the Elements: An Early Whiff of Oxygen Ariel Anbar (Arizona State University)
Sep 03, 2010 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Will Alien Life Resemble Us (and How Could We Possibly Know)? Astrobiology, Evolution and the Amino Acids Stephen Freeland (Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii)
Jun 18, 2010 12:00p - 2:30p	JHU Mudd Hall 101	Astrobiological Factors in Exoplanet Exploration Strategies Wes Traub (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech)
May 07, 2010 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Exploring a Nearby Habitable World...Orbiting an M-dwarf Star L. Drake Deming (NASA Goddard Center for Astrobiology)
Apr 09, 2010 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Where Next in the Search for Life on Mars? Chris McKay (NASA Ames Research Center)
Mar 05, 2010 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Formation of Icy Planetesimals in the Primitive Nebula: Implications for the Composition of Gas Giant Planets, Satellites, and Comets Olivier Mousis (Observatoire de Besançon, France)
Feb 05, 2010 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Chemoautotrophically-Based Microbial Communities in an Extreme Subsurface Environment Jill Banfield (University of California, Berkeley)
Jan 08, 2010 12:00p - 2:30p	JHU Mudd Hall 101	Habitability of the Hadean Earth Stephen Mojzsis (University of Colorado)
Dec 04, 2009 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Cometary Amino Acids from the STARDUST Mission Jamie Elsila Cook (GSFC/Goddard Center for Astrobiology)
Nov 06, 2009 12:00p - 2:30p	STScI Bahcall Auditorium	Impacting the Origin of Life: the Case for Phosphorus Matthew Pasek (University of South Florida)

Lecture Series Support

The Planets, Life, and the Universe Lecture Series is supported by the NASA Astrobiology Institute, The Space Telescope Science Institute, the Department of Biology and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences of the Johns Hopkins University, the Space Studies Initiative, and the Ernst Cloos Memorial Scholars Program.

Organizing Committee

J. DiRuggiero (JHU, chair)
John Debes (STScI)
Sarah Horst (JHU)
Nikole Lewis (STScI)
Peter McCullough (STScI)