Saturday Talk 11-9-2013

[Nok Acker]

Microbes, Methane and Icy Worlds

                      

 

WHO:             Paula B. Matheus Carnevali

                     (DRI, Reno, NV) and the JPL team

WHEN:         Saturday, November 9, 2013, at 1:30 pm

 WHERE:      Barrow Arctic Research Center

(new science building)

 

ALL AGES WELCOME

Need a ride? A van will be in front of Cold Man Coffee at 12:45,

  Hospital door C at 1:00 and then at Tuzzy Library at 1:15 pm to

take people to and from the presentation.

 

HOST:                  Nokinba Acker, BASC

 

        Thermokarst lakes around Barrow release high amounts of geogenic methane, in part due to the underlying gas field, but methane can be the result of geochemical or biological processes. We are studying the tundra lakes for two very important reasons: (i) to understand their potential for microbial methane production and consumption, and (ii) to understand the role of methane as a “biosignature” for detecting life. The Arctic is one of the best places on Earth for studying and understanding the extremes of life, and for developing and testing technologies for exploring our solar system in the search for life elsewhere. In this talk I will describe our ongoing studies of this region and explain how this work applies to the search for life on ice-covered ocean worlds like

Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

NASA Astrobiology Institute-Icy Worlds Paula B. Matheus Carnevali, A.E. Murray (DRI, Reno, NV) and the JPL team

 

Brought to you by the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium

                                                 See BASC Saturday Talks at YouTube.com Search (nokinba123)                

 

SCHOOLYARD PROJECT

For more information call Nokinba Acker at 852-4881 or email – nok....@arcticscience.org