archive: SETI [ASTRO] Astrobiology Lecture On April 15 & 16
SETI [ASTRO] Astrobiology Lecture On April 15 & 16
Larry Klaes ( lklaes@bbn.com )
Mon, 12 Apr 1999 16:48:44 -0400
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>Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 16:32:49 GMT
>From: Ron Baalke <BAALKE@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov>
>To: astro@lists.mindspring.com
>Subject: [ASTRO] Astrobiology Lecture On April 15 & 16
>Sender: owner-astro@brickbat12.mindspring.com
>Reply-To: Ron Baalke <BAALKE@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov>
>
>
>MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
>JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
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>http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
>
>Contact: Jane Platt
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 6, 1999
>
>JPL SCIENTIST SINGS PRAISES OF ASTROBIOLOGY IN PUBLIC LECTURES
>
> What is life? How did it develop on Earth? Where else might we find
>it? These challenging questions will be explored by astrobiologist Dr.
>Pamela Conrad of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in a pair of free, public
>lectures this month.
>
> Conrad, who describes astrobiology as "the coolest thing anyone can
>do," will discuss "Astrobiology: Developing Methods for Detecting Life" on
>Thursday, April 15, at JPL's von Karman Auditorium, and Friday, April 16, at
>Pasadena City College's Forum. Both lectures begin at 7 p.m., with seating
>on a first- come, first-served basis.
>
> Conrad sees JPL as the high note in her unique and varied career. She
>earned a bachelor's degree in applied music and a master's degree in
>composing from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. While earning
>her living as an opera singer, film score composer, and even a TV producer
>and director, Conrad yearned for her true love -- science. She returned to
>school, earned a Ph.D. in geology, and did her research as a pre-doctoral
>fellow at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory in Washington,
>D.C. Her research involved high-pressure mineral physics, which she
>describes as "squishing things and studying the results."
>
> When JPL offered her a job in its astrobiology unit, Conrad said "It
>was music to my ears. I'm back to science, where I should have been in the
>first place." She sings the praises of astrobiology, which attempts to
>develop methods for detecting life and to define whether rocks are "animal,
>vegetable or mineral."
>
> JPL is one of 11 NASA centers taking part in the agency's
>Astrobiology Institute. Astrobiology blends the sciences of astronomy,
>chemistry, biology and geology, which Conrad sees as "the perfect harmony."
>Astrobiology techniques will be used to investigate samples returned from
>Mars and other extraterrestrial locations, and numerous other future space
>missions will benefit from astrobiological research, including NASA's
>Origins Program, and explorations of Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon
>Titan.
>
> JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology,
>Pasadena, Calif.
>
> #####
>