Roger Summons, Schlumberger Professor of Geobiology, Christopher Carr, Research Scientist, Alexandra Pontefract, Postdoctoral Associate
Enrollment: Email Alexandra Pontefract (apontefr@mit.edu) to sign-up.
Limited to 25 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: A knowledge of Biology and/or Geology would be an asset.
Have you always wondered what Astrobiology is, and what Astrobiologists do? Are you interested in the search for life beyond the Earth?
Come join us for two weeks as we explore the breadth of topics related to Astrobiology, from the origins of life here on Earth, to the habitability of other bodies in our solar system and beyond. Through this course you will gain an appreciation of the multi-disciplinary nature of planetary science research, and gain a basic understanding of the knowledge and instrumentation that goes into making a planetary exploration mission for life detection.
This course will feature a series of lectures from MIT and Brown University Planetary scientists and Astrobiologists, along with lab demonstrations and group discussions.
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Contact: Alexandra Pontefract, 54-511, apontefr@MIT.EDU
| Jan/23 | Mon | 09:00AM-12:00PM | 54-915 |
Lecture followed by a discussion on: Learning how to read a scientific article.
Alexandra Pontefract - Postdoctoral Associate
| Jan/24 | Tue | 09:00AM-12:00PM | 54-915 |
Lecture followed by an opportunity to view some fossils and a tour of the Isotope Lab.
Roger Summons - Schlumberger Professor of Geobiology
| Jan/25 | Wed | 09:00AM-12:00PM | 54-915 |
Lecture followed by a discussion on top-down phylogenomic reconstructions of deep ancestral life.
Greg Fournier - Cecil & Ida Green Assistant Professor of Geobiology
| Jan/26 | Thu | 09:00AM-12:00PM | 54-915 |
Lecture followed by a discussion on Extremophilic Organisms.
Heather Throckmorton - Postdoctoral Associate
| Jan/27 | Fri | 09:00AM-12:00PM | 54-915 |
Lecture followed by a demonstration of relevant technology.
Jack Mustard - Professor, Brown University
| Jan/30 | Mon | 09:00AM-12:00PM | 54-915 |
Lecture followed by a lab on planetary datasets.
Jason Soderblom - Research Scientist
| Jan/31 | Tue | 09:00AM-12:00PM | 54-915 |
Lecture followed by a demonstration of nanopore sequencing.
Christopher Carr - Research Scientist
| Feb/01 | Wed | 09:00AM-12:00PM | 54-915 |
Lecture followed by an online Exoplanet lab.
Jennifer Burt - Postdoctoral Fellow