All interested researchers and students are invited to attend. No registration is required for the short course. Seating is limited and is available on a first come, first served basis.
Program
Lecture 1 – “Microbial Energy Sources and Subsurface Life” – Karen Lloyd
Goal: To highlight the nutrients and potential metabolic processes of subsurface microbiology.
- What are the typical nutrient sources for microbial life?
- Within subsurface regolith settings what has been the best methods of preservation?
- What has been an example of a successful determination of biogenicity in the rock and mineral record?
Lecture 2 – “Proof of Microbial Life: Geobiology in Planetary Analog Systems” – Frank Corsetti
Goal: To quantify multiple lines of evidence for physical biosignatures with biological references in the geologic record.
- What are the metrics of biogenicity that build confidence in preservation of biology?
- How can geobiology in the terrestrial rock record help inform future astrobiology measurements?
- What are the pitfalls of false positives that have been misinterpreted that we can learn from?
Lecture 3 – “Extreme Environment Microbiology in Ices” – Christine Foreman
Goal: To quantify the degree of biogenicity from microorganisms and habitats in frozen environments.
- How can the survivability of microbial communities in ice help guide proper life detection experiments?
- What has impacted and improved the degree of biogenic and biotic preservation in frozen settings?
- What are the best practices for a design of experiments for assessing cellular communities in ices?
Lecture 4 – “Understanding Astrobiological False Positives from Terrestrial Microbiology” – Martin Homann
Goal: To highlight the rock record preservation of biogenic information and to determine how to avoid false positives.
- What lines of evidence provide the clearest validation of ancient biology in the record?
- What sample lithologies and accompanying micriobiological techniques should we use for terrestrial life detection?
- How can we use the lessons learned from terrestrial geobiology to help us design a planetary design of experiments?
Short Course Presentations
| Speaker | Affiliation | Presentation |
|---|---|---|
| Karen Lloyd | Univ. of Tennessee | Microbial Energy Sources and Subsurface Life (.pdf) |
| Frank Corsetti | USC | Proof of Microbial Life: Geobiology in Planetary Analog Systems (.pdf) |
| Christine Foreman | Montana State Univ. | Extreme Environment Microbiology in Ices (.pdf) |
| Martin Homann | Univ. College London | Understanding Astrobiological False Positives from Terrestrial Microbiology (.pdf) |
