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On Tuesday evening, September 19, 2006, there will be a free public event from 7-9pm at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago, beginning with a lecture by David Morrison on "Cosmic Impacts and Evolution", followed by a panel discussion featuring Morrison, David Grinspoon, Jill Tarter, and Craig Wheeler on "Cosmic Catastrophes". The panel discussion will be moderated by NPR's Ira Flatow. Cosmic Impacts and Evolution 7:00 pm Harris Theater, Millennium Park Enjoy a public lecture by David Morrison, PhD, of the NASA Ames Research Center and winner of the 2004 American Astronomical Society Carl Sagan Prize. Intermission and Poster Viewing8:00 pm The Program Organizing Committee will select the best posters submitted for display at the Harris Theater. Panel Discussion – Cosmic CatastrophesFollowing the lecture, National Public Radio's Ira Flatow will facilitate a panel discussion featuring: David Grinspoon (Denver Museum of Nature and Science)Jill Tarter (SETI Institute) Craig Wheeler (University of Texas) Public Lecture What role do collisions with asteroids and comets play in determining the past and future habitability of the Earth, and what are the implications for the habitability of other worlds? To quote the final words from Chapter 18 of Carl Sagan's popular book, Pale Blue Dot, "Since hazards from comets and asteroids must apply to inhabited planets all over the Galaxy, if there are such, intelligent beings everywhere will have to unify their home worlds politically, leave their planets, and move small nearby worlds around. Their eventual choice, as ours, is spaceflight or extinction." 
David Morrison David Morrison is the Senior Scientist at the NASA Astrobiology Institute and a leading expert on asteroid impacts. He received his Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University, and until he joined NASA he was Professor of Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, specializing in research on planets, moons and asteroids. He is the author of more than 150 technical papers and has published a dozen books on space-related topics. Morrison is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a recipient of the Dryden Medal of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics for research in astrobiology, the Sagan Medal of the American Astronomical Society for public communication of science, and the Klumpke-Roberts award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for contributions to science education, as well as two NASA Outstanding Leadership medals. He has been a leader in the development of the new multi-disciplinary science of astrobiology and in studies of the impact hazard and how to deal with it. Asteroid 2410 Morrison is named in his honor. 
Ira Flatow Veteran National Public Radio (NPR) science correspondent and award-winning TV journalist Ira Flatow is the host of Talk Of The Nation: Science Friday®. He anchors the show each Friday, bringing radio and Internet listeners world wide a lively, informative discussion on science, technology, health, space and the environment. Ira is also founder and president of TalkingScience, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit company dedicated to creating radio, TV and Internet projects that make science "user friendly." Flatow's interest in things scientific began in boyhood when he almost burned down his mother's bathroom trying to recreate a biology class experiment. "I was the proverbial kid who spent hours in the basement experimenting with electronic gizmos, and then entering them in high school science fairs," Flatow says. Mixing his passion for science with a tendency toward being "a bit of a ham," Flatow describes his work as the challenge "to make science and technology a topic for discussion around the dinner table." He has shared that enthusiasm with public radio listeners for more than 35 years. As a reporter and then News Director at WBFO-FM/Buffalo, New York, Flatow began reporting at the station while studying for his engineering degree at State University of New York in Buffalo. As NPR's science correspondent from 1971 to 1986, Flatow found himself reporting from the Kennedy Space Center, Three Mile Island, Antarctica and the South Pole. In one memorable NPR report, Flatow took former All Things Considered host Susan Stamberg into a closet to crunch Wint-O-Green Lifesavers, proving they spark in the dark. His most recent book is entitled They All Laughed ... From Light Bulbs to Lasers: The Fascinating Stories Behind the Great Inventions That Have Changed Our Lives (HarperCollins, New York). It followed on the heels of Rainbows, Curve Balls and Other Wonders of the Natural World Explained. On television, Flatow has discussed the latest cutting edge science stories on a variety of programs, including the new digital Cablevision program Maximum Science . He is also host of the four-part PBS series Big Ideas produced by WNET in New York. His numerous TV credits include six years as host and writer for the Emmy-award-winning Newton's Apple on PBS, science reporter for CBS This Morning, Westinghouse, and cable's CNBC. He wrote, produced and hosted Transistorized!, an hour-long documentary about the history of the transistor, which aired on PBS. He has talked science on many TV talk shows including Merv Griffin, Today, Charlie Rose, and Oprah. He is currently exploring new and better ways of bringing science news to radio, TV and the Internet. On the Internet, Flatow has hosted numerous science related Web Casts for Discovery Online and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. His Science Friday Kids' Connection web pages won the award for one of the top 500 web sites in the country given out by Home PC Magazine. His Podcasts are among the most listened to on the Internet, frequently in the top-ten of all downloads on the iTunes web site. In print, Ira has authored articles for various magazines ranging from Woman's Day to ESPN Magazine to American Lawyer. His commentary has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, and Current newspapers. Public speaking and moderating discussions are a regular part of his schedule. He has spoken at Rockefeller University, the World Economic Forum, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett Packard, Calvin Academy, Cal Tech, MIT, Harvard, University of Wisconsin, OSHU, National Inventor's Hall of Fame and the Kentucky Author Forum. In 2004, Ira was resident scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. His recent honors include: the National Science Board Public Service Award (2005), World Economic Forum Media Fellowshipo (2005), Elizabeth Wood Writing (2002), AAAS Journalism award (2000), Brady Washburn Award (2000), the Carl Sagan Award (1999). Ira is member of the National Association of Science Writers. His hobbies include flying, gardening (especially orchids), tropical fish and electronic gadgets. He loves the theater. A native of New York, Flatow now lives in Connecticut with his wife and their children. 
Jill Tarter Jill Tarter holds the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and is Director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California. Tarter received her Bachelor of Engineering Physics Degree with Distinction from Cornell University and her Master's Degree and a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley. She served as Project Scientist for NASA's SETI program, the High Resolution Microwave Survey, and has conducted numerous observational programs at radio observatories worldwide. Since the termination of funding for NASA's SETI program in 1993, she has served in a leadership role to secure private funding to continue this exploratory science. Currently, she serves on the management board for the Allen Telescope Array, a joint project between the SETI Institute and the UC Berkeley Radio Astronomy Laboratory. When this innovative array of 350 6-m antennas begins operations at the UC's Hat Creek Radio Observatory, it will simultaneously survey the radio universe for known and unexpected sources of astrophysical emissions, and speed up the search for radio emissions from other distant technologies by orders of magnitude. Tarter's work has brought her wide recognition in the scientific community, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Aerospace, two Public Service Medals from NASA, Chabot Observatory's Person of the Year award (1997), Women of Achievement Award in the Science and Technology category by the Women's Fund and the San Jose Mercury News (1998), and the Tesla Award of Technology at the Telluride Tech Festival (2001). She was elected an AAAS Fellow in 2002 and a California Academy of Sciences Fellow in 2003. In 2004 Time Magazine named her one of the Time 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2005 Tarter was awarded the Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization at Wonderfest, the biannual San Francisco Bay Area Festival of Science. In 2006 Tarter became a National Advisory Board member for the Center for Inquiry's Office of Public Policy in Washington, DC. She is also a Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) Fellow. Tarter is deeply involved in the education of future citizens and scientists. In addition to her scientific leadership at NASA and SETI Institute, Tarter has been the Principal Investigator for two curriculum development projects funded by NSF, NASA, and others. The first, the Life in the Universe series, created 6 science teaching guides for grades 3-9 (published 1994-96). Her second project, Voyages Through Time, is an integrated high school science curriculum on the fundamental theme of evolution in six modules: Cosmic Evolution, Planetary Evolution, Origin of Life, Evolution of Life, Hominid Evolution and Evolution of Technology (published 2003). Tarter is a frequent speaker for science teacher meetings and at museums and science centers, bringing her commitment to science and education to both teachers and the public. Many people are now familiar with her work as portrayed by Jodie Foster in the movie Contact. 
J. Craig Wheeler J. Craig Wheeler received a BS in physics from MIT in 1965 and a PhD in physics from the University of Colorado in 1969. He is currently the Samuel T. and Fern Yanagisawa Regents Professor of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin and was Chair of the Department from 1986 to 1990. He is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers at the University of Texas. He has published about 300 papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings, edited five books and published a novel, that has been made into an independent movie. His popular-level book, Cosmic Catastrophes: Supernovae, Gamma-Ray Bursts and Adventures in Hyperspace (Cambridge University Press 2000) won an award in a University of Texas faculty book competition. He served on the Space Studies Board of the National Research Council from 2002 - 2006 and was co-Chair of the NRC Committee on the Origin and Evolution of Life from 2002 - 2005. He is currently serving a two-year term as President of the American Astronomical Society. His research interests are supernovae, black holes, gamma-ray bursts and astrobiology. 
David Grinspoon David Grinspoon is an internationally known Planetary Scientist who is funded by NASA to study the surface and atmospheric evolution of Earthlike planets elsewhere in the universe. Grinspoon is being awarded the 2006 Carl Sagan Medal by the American Astronomical Society (to be presented this October) He is Curator of Astrobiology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science Adjunct Professor of Astrophysical and Planetary Science at the University of Colorado. Dr. Grinspoon serves as a frequent advisor to NASA on space exploration strategy, and is lead scientist for astrobiology on an instrument that will fly on NASA's next Mars rover. He is Interdisciplinary Scientist for Climate Studies on Venus Express, the European Space Agency's mission which is currently in orbit around Venus. He has also lectured and published widely. His first book, Venus Revealed, (Perseus Books, 1998) was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist. His latest book, Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life won the 2004 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Research Nonfiction. Entertainment Weekly called Lonely Planets "proof that life on this planet is both intelligent and funny." Grinspoon's popular writing has appeared in Slate, Scientific American, Natural History, The Sciences , Astronomy, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. His technical papers have been published in Nature, Science, and numerous other journals. Dr. Grinspoon has been featured on numerous television (PBS's Life Beyond Earth; BBC's The Planets) and radio (NPR's Science Friday and Weekend Edition, Wisconsin Public Radio, BBC World Service) shows, and he is a regular astrobiology correspondent for ABC Radio. He has given invited talks at international conferences throughout the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Grinspoon is also an award-winning musician who has played guitar and sung in several great bands destined for obscurity. In fact, Dr. G played lead guitar for a band called the Geeks years before being a geek became cool. Grinspoon holds degrees in Philosophy of Science and Planetary Science from Brown University and a doctorate in Planetary Sciences from the University of Arizona. He lives in Denver with his wife photographer Tory Read and three highly intelligent cats. For more, see www.lonelyplanets.net or www.funkyscience.net. |