SMCAS

SPEAKER:                 Dr. Nathalie Cabrol                                                       

                                  Senior Research Scientist, Planetary Sciences, Astrobiology

                                  NASA Ames Research Center, SETI Institute

TOPIC:                       A Revolutionary Decade in Astrobiology

                                  How Planetary Exploration is Changing our Understanding of Habitability

TIME:                        8:00pm  June 1st, 2012 
WHERE:                    CSM Planetarium  Bldg 36, Free Parking in Lot 5    
.                                 Free and open to the public          

The last decade has seen a revolution in scientific thinking about astrobiology – the study of possible life  beyond earth.  Multi-disciplinary research,  from extreme environments such as the high Andes Mountains on earth,  as well as exploration results such as from MER (Mars Exploration Rover),  MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter), Cassini and Kepler,  have resulted in a new inclusive vision of astrobiology.  What we learn from one planet helps us understand others, including our own, and guides future astrobiology related missions  such as the TiME (Titan Mare Explorer) and the PLL (Planetary Lake Lander) missions.    In her presentation, Dr. Cabrol will discuss this revolution in astrobiology, with the latest updates from  these various missions as well as her own work in the Andes with the PLL.

A Passion for Exploration

Sharing the excitement of exploration and discovery in planetary exploration has always been paramount in Cabrol’s career.  She started giving public lectures at age 23. She now counts over 400 lectures in the USA and France, including a broad range of audiences such as the general public, private industries, associations, societies and clubs, museums and exploratoriums, schools, colleges, universities, and retirement homes. She also trains the next generation of explorers and scientists by involving them in her scientific expeditions and planetary research.

Exploration, whatever its focus, is limitless, multi-facetted, and exquisitely complex. The understanding of how and why planets evolve, whether they could have hosted habitats for life, how climate change impacts their habitability - and for Earth, its biodiversity - are questions that need to be addressed through a synergetic approach by looking at many different and complementary angles simultaneously.

Nathalie’s vision of exploration reflects this philosophy. Exploration takes Nathalie from Mars to the summit of the highest volcanoes in the Andes, to the bottom of lakes, and to the most arid deserts in the world. She bridges planets by deciphering their past from the present and their present from their past, and builds a vision of their future.

Nathalie is a planetary scientist, an explorer, and a leader of research projects in astrobiology and extreme terrestrial environments, planetary missions and robotics. She is a science team member of the NASA Mars Exploration Rover mission and was the main advocate for the selection of the Gusev crater as the landing site for the Spirit rover on Mars. 

With her team, Nathalie documents life adaptation to extreme environmental conditions and the effect of rapid climate change on habitability whether here and now on Earth, or in the past on early Mars. She also develops and field tests exploration strategies for rover field experiments. She was the science lead of the NASA-funded Nomad rover (1997) and Life in the Atacama projects (2003-2006).

She is the Principal Investigator (PI) and the expedition leader of the High Lakes Project, a NASA Astrobiology Institute-funded project exploring the highest volcanic lakes on Earth at close to 6,000 m elevation (20,000 ft). Their exploration includes extreme scientific scuba and free diving and has brought new insights into poorly known ecosystems.