Seminar Program

Seminar Program

The Center runs a weekly Origins of Life Seminar at 4:00 pm on Mondays during the semester in CII 3051. Presenters include faculty, postdoctoral researchers and students associated with the Center, and visiting speakers. Topics cover all aspects of Origins of Life research in the fields of astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and earth sciences. All interested are encouraged to attend. The seminar is available to Rensselaer students as a 1-credit course.

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Spring 2000 Schedule

February 14, 2000
"Signatures of Biogenic Activity within Martian Meteorites"
Dr. Everett Gibson
NASA Johnson Space Center

February 21, 2000
No Seminar

February 28, 2000
"Extrasolar Planets"
Dr. Alan Boss
Carnegie Institution of Washington

March 6, 2000
"The Role of Minerals as Catalysts in Prebiotic Synthesis"
Dr. Martin Schoonen
SUNY Stony Brook

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PUBLIC LECTURE - NOTE TIME AND ROOM CHANGE
(FOR THIS SEMINAR ONLY)
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March 8, 7:00 pm, CII 4050
"Planets around Sun-like Stars"
Dr. Paul Butler
Dept. of Terrestrial Magnetism
Carnegie Institution of Washington

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March 13, 2000
No Seminar - Spring Break

Seminars resume on Monday at 4:00 pm in CII 3051:

March 20, 2000
"The Chemistry of Interstellar Clouds"
Dr. Eric Herbst
Ohio State University

March 27, 2000--------CANCELLED-----------------
"Catalytic RNA Meets Selfish DNA: Are Group I Introns of Bacteria and Bacteriophage Ancient Relics or Recent Invaders?"
Dr. David Shub
Center for Molecular Genetics, SUNYA

April 3, 2000
No Seminar

April 10, 2000
"Chemistry of the Accretion Disks Around Young Stars & The Nature of Comets"
Dr. Geoffrey Blake
California Institute of Technology

April 17, 2000
"Cooking the Primordial Soup: Abiotic Synthesis of Hydrocarbons in Hydrothermal Environments"
Dr. Tom McCollom
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

April 24, 2000
"Prospects for Life on Europa"
Dr. Chris Chyba
SETI Institute

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Fall 1999 Schedule

October 4, 1999
"The Reduction of Nitrogen to Ammonia by Ferrous Hydroxide"
Dr. David Mauzerall
Rockefeller University

October 18, 1999
"Continuous Evolution in Vitro:  Examining Complexity in the RNA World"
Dr. Niles Lehman
SUNY

October 25, 1999
"The Search for Glycine in Hot Molecular Cores"
Dr. Lewis Snyder
University at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

November 1, 1999
"Analogs of the Early Solar System"
Dr. David Koerner
University at Pennsylvania

Seminar

November 8, 1999
"Activation of Phosphorus on the Primitive Earth"
Dr. Alan Schwartz
University of Nijmegen, Netherlands

November 15, 1999
"Experimental Tests of Genetic Code and Ribozyme Origins"
Dr. Laura Landweber
Princeton University

November 22, 1999
"Possible Pathways to Organophosphates on the Early Earth"
Dr. William Hagan
College of St. Rose

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Spring 1999 Schedule

January 25, 1999
"Examination of Subsurface Microorganisms for Group I Self-Splicing Introns"
Dr. Sandra Nierzwicki-Bauer
Chairperson, Biology and Director, Darrin Fresh Water Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

February 1, 1999
"The Origin of Microbial Species: A View Based on the Natural History of Hot Spring Microorganisms"
Dr. David Ward
Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences
Montana State University

February 8, 1999
"Origin of the Biogenic Elements"
Dr. James Napolitano
Physics Department
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

February 15, 1999
No Seminar

February 22, 1999
"Geochemical Constraints on the Origin of the Earth and Moon"
Dr. John Jones
NASA Johnson Space Center

March 1, 1999
"Impact History of the Earth-Moon System and Constraints on the Origin of Life"
Dr. Graham Ryder
Lunar and Planetary Institute
Center for Advanced Space Studies

March 8, 1999
No Seminar

March 15, 1999
"SIM - The Search for Planets"
Dr. Deane Peterson
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy
SUNY Stony Brook

March 22, 1999
"Organic Carbon in Interplanetary Dust"
Dr. George Flynn
Physics Department
SUNY Plattsburgh

March 29, 1999
"Template-Directed Polynucleotide Synthesis on Analogs of DNA and RNA"
Dr. Leslie Orgel
Salk Institute

April 5, 1999 CANCELLED
"Mimicking of Early Evolutionary Events Using Continuous Evolution of RNA in Vitro"
Dr. Niles Lehman
Dept. of Biological Sciences
SUNY Albany

April 12, 1999
"The Comet/ISM Connection"
Dr. William Irvine
Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory
University of Massachusetts

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PUBLIC LECTURE - NOTE TIME AND ROOM CHANGE
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April 20, 1999, 7:30 pm, CII 4050
"The Discovery of Earth's Earliest Fossils: Solution to Darwin's Dilemma"
Dr. J. W. Schopf
Dept. of Earth and Space Sciences
Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life
University of California

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Fall 1998 Schedule

September 22, 1998
"Planetary Environments for the Origin of Life"
Dr. Sherwood Chang
Exobiology Division Head
NASA Ames Research Center

September 25, 1998
"Chemistry of the Origin of Life"
Dr. James Ferris
Director, NY Center for Studies on the Origins of Life
Chemistry Department
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

October 2, 1998
"Impact Flux in the Early Solar System"
Dr. John Delano
Dept. of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
The University at Albany

October 9, 1998
"Prebiotic Pathways to Nucleotides"
Dr. Geoff Zubay
Department of Biological Sciences
Columbia University

October 16, 1998
"Methane in Earth's Early Atmosphere:
Effects on Climate and Early Biological Evolution"
Dr. Jim Kasting
Department of Geoscience
Penn State University

October 23, 1993
"Asteroids and the Origins of Life"
Dr. Michael Gaffey
Dept. of Earth & Environmental Sciences
Rensselaer

October 30, 1998
"Photochemistry of the Atmospheres of the Giant Planets. The Roles of H₂S, NH₃, PH₃, GeH₄ and H₂O"
Dr. Jean-Claude Guillemin
Director of Research
CNRS, University of Rennes
France

November 6, 1998
"Shock Chemistry in Star-Forming Regions"
Dr. Wayne Roberge
Physics Department
Rensselaer

November 13, 1998
Organic Molecules: From Interstellar Clouds to Protoplanetary Disks"
Dr. Douglas Whittet
Physics Department
Rensselaer

November 20, 1998
"Interplanetary Dust Particles: Primitive Materials from the Early Solar System and Beyond"
Dr. John Bradley
MVA, Inc. and
School of Materials Science and Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology

December 4, 1998
The Nature and Evolution of Interstellar and Circumstellar Ices and Organic Matter"
Dr. Jean Chiar
NASA Ames Research Center

December 18, 1998
The Lick, Keck, and Anglo-Australian Planet Surveys"
Dr. Paul Butler
Anglo-Australian Observatory