NAI
NAI Director's Seminar Series
Subscribe to this series All Seminars in This Series
The Director’s Seminar series features talks from scientists who are invited by the NAI Director to present their research results to the community. A primary goal of the seminars is to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration across NAI teams and within the astrobiology community at large.
-
A Talk With Jim Green
Jim Green, NASA Planetary Science DivisionPRESENTED ON January 16, 2018
-
What Can Extant Genomes Reveal About Early DNA Metabolism?
Isaac Cann, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignPRESENTED ON November 21, 2016
-
What We Talk About When We Talk About Earth's Oxygenation
Noah Planavsky, Yale UniversityPRESENTED ON October 31, 2016
-
Bowling With Astrobiologists: A Twisted Path Toward the Origin of DNA
Nathaniel Comfort, Johns Hopkins UniversityPRESENTED ON October 3, 2016
-
SHERLOC: On the Trail of Potential Biosignatures on Mars
PRESENTED ON April 25, 2016
-
Characterizing Potentially Habitable Exoplanets
Victoria Meadows, University of WashingtonPRESENTED ON March 28, 2016
-
Life Underground in the Sanford Underground Research Facility
Jan Amend, University of Southern CaliforniaPRESENTED ON February 29, 2016
-
Ironing Out Life and the Universe
PRESENTED ON November 16, 2015
-
Serpentinization on Mars: Observational Evidence and Theory
Adrian Brown, SETI InstitutePRESENTED ON October 26, 2015
-
Searching for Life on Mars With PIXL and the Mars 2020 Rover Mission
Abigail Allwood, NASA Jet Propulsion LaboratoryPRESENTED ON September 21, 2015
-
The Role of Chance in the Evolution of Early Life
Irene Chen, University of California, Santa BarbaraPRESENTED ON May 18, 2015
-
Studying Exoplanet Populations With the Kepler Discovery Catalog
Natalie Batalha, University of California, Santa Cruz Christopher Burke, SETI InstitutePRESENTED ON April 27, 2015
-
Early Solar System Bombardment and Earth's Habitability
Bill Bottke, Southwest Research InstitutePRESENTED ON February 23, 2015
-
A Spectral Database for Earth-Like Exoplanets
Lisa Kaltenegger, Cornell UniversityPRESENTED ON December 1, 2014
-
Hotwired Life: Microbial Energy Acquisition by Electron Transfer Across the Biotic-Abiotic Interface
Moh El-Naggar, University of Southern CaliforniaPRESENTED ON October 27, 2014
-
Microbial Burst Accompanying Earth's Greatest Extinction
Dan Rothman, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPRESENTED ON May 19, 2014
-
Methane-Based Life in a Deep-Sea Concrete Jungle
Victoria Orphan, California Institute of TechnologyPRESENTED ON April 21, 2014
-
The Formation of Complex Organic Molecules in Star-Forming Regions
Eric Herbst, University of VirginiaPRESENTED ON March 10, 2014
-
Amino Acid Analysis of Titan Tholins and Comparison With Other Prebiotic Reaction Systems
Henderson Cleaves, Carnegie Institution for SciencePRESENTED ON February 10, 2014
-
Astrobiology and the Anthropocene Epoch
David Grinspoon, NASA/Library of Congress Chair in AstrobiologyPRESENTED ON December 16, 2013
-
Ancient Waters of the Precambrian Shields: Implications for Subsurface Life and Astrobiology
Barbara Sherwood Lollar, University of TorontoPRESENTED ON November 25, 2013
-
The Puzzle of Low-Density Super-Earths
Raymond Pierrehumbert, University of ChicagoPRESENTED ON October 28, 2013
-
Organics and Water in Space: The Spectroscopic Legacy of the Herschel Space Observatory
Edwin Bergin, University of Michigan, Ann ArborPRESENTED ON June 3, 2013
-
Darwin's Coral of Life, Gene Transfer, and Inferring Properties of the Early Biosphere
Peter Gogarten, University of ConnecticutPRESENTED ON April 29, 2013
-
Exploring New Worlds
Daniel Apai, University of ArizonaPRESENTED ON March 25, 2013
-
The Habitability of Planets Orbiting M Dwarfs
Victoria Meadows, University of WashingtonPRESENTED ON February 25, 2013
-
Getting Under Europa’s Skin
PRESENTED ON January 28, 2013
-
Planetary Lake Lander
Nathalie Cabrol, SETI InstitutePRESENTED ON October 22, 2012
-
Inferring Ancient Proteins: What They Tell Us, How We Know They Are Accurate, and Their Use Beyond Astrobiology
Eric Gaucher, Georgia Institute of TechnologyPRESENTED ON September 24, 2012
-
Human and Robotic Astrobiological Research in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
Peter Doran, Unknown InstitutionPRESENTED ON May 21, 2012
-
Kepler's Year-Three Transit Census
Natalie Batalha, University of California, Santa CruzPRESENTED ON April 30, 2012
-
Enabling Life With a Molecular Toolkit of Genes and Proteins Designed De Novo
Michael Hecht, Princeton UniversityPRESENTED ON March 5, 2012
-
Cancer as Metazoa 1.0
Paul Davies, Arizona State UniversityPRESENTED ON January 30, 2012
-
New Insights Into the Transition of Iron-Sulfur Compounds From Minerals to Enzymes
John Peters, Montana State UniversityPRESENTED ON November 28, 2011
-
Banded Iron Formation and Ancient Life
Kurt Konhauser, University of AlbertaPRESENTED ON November 7, 2011
-
Hydrothermal Conditions and the Origin of Cellular Life
David Deamer, University of California, Santa CruzPRESENTED ON September 26, 2011
-
ESA/NASA ExoMars/Trace Gas Orbiter: A Search for Extant Habitability and Habitancy
Mark Allen, NASA Jet Propulsion LaboratoryPRESENTED ON May 23, 2011
-
Irreversible Oxidation of the Exosphere and Acceleration of the Biosphere Across the Archean-Paleoproterozoic Transition
PRESENTED ON April 25, 2011
-
Establishing a Common Origin for Carbonaceous Solids in Comets, IDPs, and Primitive Chondrites
George Cody, Carnegie Institution for SciencePRESENTED ON March 28, 2011
-
Linking Microbial Behaviors to Microbialite Morphology
Dawn Sumner, University of California, DavisPRESENTED ON February 28, 2011
-
Potential Origin of Early Functional Proteins
Burckhard Seelig, University of MinnesotaPRESENTED ON February 7, 2011
-
Anaerobic Thermophilic Lithoautotrophs: Life Without Light and Oxygen
Elizaveta Bonch-Osmolovskaya, Russian Academy of SciencesPRESENTED ON December 6, 2010
-
Permafrost Astrobiology: Field Expedition to Terrestrial Analogues of Martian Habitats and Inhabitants
David Gilichinsky, Russian Academy of SciencesPRESENTED ON December 1, 2010
-
Pale Pink Dot Part II: Microbial Signatures of Ancient Oceans
Jennifer Macalady, Pennsylvania State UniversityPRESENTED ON November 29, 2010
-
Quo Vadis Astrovirology?
Kenneth Stedman, Portland State UniversityPRESENTED ON October 25, 2010
-
Clement Conditions in the "Hadean"
John Valley, University of Wisconsin, MadisonPRESENTED ON September 27, 2010
-
Evolution of the Oceans: Pale Pink Dot
Lee Kump, Pennsylvania State UniversityPRESENTED ON June 21, 2010
-
Intraterrestrial Life on Earth
Katrina Edwards, University of Southern CaliforniaPRESENTED ON June 7, 2010
-
Comets and the Early Solar System - Results From the Stardust Comet Sample Return Mission
Donald Brownlee, University of WashingtonPRESENTED ON March 29, 2010
-
Energy Flow and Life: A Thermodynamic-Kinetic View of Biology in Its Relationship With the Environment
Tori Hoehler, NASA Ames Research CenterPRESENTED ON March 1, 2010
-
Status of Kepler Mission and Early Discoveries
William Borucki, NASA Ames Research CenterPRESENTED ON January 25, 2010
-
Is Water Necessary for Life?
Andrew Pohorille, NASA Ames Research CenterPRESENTED ON November 30, 2009
-
A Changing View of Viruses in the Evolution and Ecology of Life
Mark Young, Montana State UniversityPRESENTED ON October 26, 2009
-
Southpaw Solar System: L-Amino Acid Excesses in Meteorites and the Implications for the Origin of Homochirality on Earth
Daniel Glavin, NASA Goddard Space Flight CenterPRESENTED ON October 5, 2009
-
Application of the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) in Deep-Sea and Coastal Ocean Biomes
Christopher Scholin, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research InstitutePRESENTED ON June 29, 2009
-
The Great Mass Extinction - a Sudden Event or a Slow Moving Train-Wreck?
Roger Summons, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPRESENTED ON November 24, 2008
-
What Can We Learn About the Origin of Life From Efforts to Design an Artificial Cell?
Jack Szostak, Harvard UniversityPRESENTED ON November 3, 2008
-
Habitability of Super-Earths
Norman Sleep, Stanford UniversityPRESENTED ON September 29, 2008
-
The CheMin Mineralogical Instrument on the MSL Mission and the Field-Portable TERRA Version Available for NAI Field Campaigns
David Blake, NASA Ames Research CenterPRESENTED ON June 30, 2008
-
Observing Extrasolar Worlds: From Gas Giant to Terrestrial Planets
Giovanna Tinetti, Institut d'Astrophysique de ParisPRESENTED ON June 2, 2008
-
Four Approaches to a General Theory of Life
Steven Benner, Foundation for Applied Molecular EvolutionPRESENTED ON April 28, 2008
-
Earth's Low Temperature Life: An Analog for Mars and Europa?
Jody Deming, University of Washington James Staley, University of WashingtonPRESENTED ON March 31, 2008
-
Can Rocks From Mars Yield Definitive Evidence of Past Life?
James William Schopf, University of California, Los AngelesPRESENTED ON February 25, 2008
-
The Effect of Protoplanetary Disk Dispersal on Planet Formation
David Hollenbach, NASA Ames Research CenterPRESENTED ON February 4, 2008
-
Getting to the Core of Exoplanets: From Gas to Ice Giants
Geoff Marcy, University of California, BerkeleyPRESENTED ON December 3, 2007
-
A Whiff of Oxygen Before the Great Oxidation Event
Ariel Anbar, Arizona State UniversityPRESENTED ON November 5, 2007
-
Life in the Universe: The Expanding World of Microbial Diversity
Norman Pace, University of Colorado, BoulderPRESENTED ON September 24, 2007
-
Microbial Activities in Deep Subseafloor Sediments
Steven D'Hondt, University of Rhode IslandPRESENTED ON April 30, 2007
-
Infrared Spectra of Extrasolar Planets
Drake Deming, University of Maryland, College ParkPRESENTED ON March 26, 2007
-
New and Emerging Perspectives on Late Precambrian 'Snowball Earth' Glaciation
Tim Raub, California Institute of TechnologyPRESENTED ON February 26, 2007
-
Radiolysis of Water as a Source of Bioavailable Energy in the Subsurface of Earth and Mars
Tullis Onstott, Princeton University Lisa Pratt, Indiana University, BloomingtonPRESENTED ON January 29, 2007
-
Formation of Habitable Planetary Systems: Are We Normal?
Avi Mandell, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Sean Raymond, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de BordeauxPRESENTED ON November 27, 2006
-
Microbial Diversity in the Deep Sea and the Underexplored Rare Biosphere
Julie Huber, Marine Biological LaboratoryPRESENTED ON October 16, 2006
-
The Stardust Discovery Mission - Returning Unique Samples of Early Solar System Organics
Scott Sandford, NASA Ames Research CenterPRESENTED ON April 24, 2006
-
Water on Mars
Michael Manga, University of California, BerkeleyPRESENTED ON March 20, 2006
-
The Origin of Sulfate-Rich Bedrock at Meridiani Planum on Mars: Sedimentary Evaporite, Impact, or Volcanic?
Thomas McCollom, University of Colorado, BoulderPRESENTED ON February 27, 2006
-
Using White Dwarfs to Study Extrasolar Asteroids and Planets
Michael Jura, University of California, Los AngelesPRESENTED ON October 24, 2005
-
Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems: Placing Our Habitable Solar System in Context
Michael Meyer, University of ArizonaPRESENTED ON September 26, 2005
-
Lifting Titan's Veil
Ralph Lorenz, University of ArizonaPRESENTED ON July 25, 2005
-
High Resolution Imaging of Young Planets
Benjamin Zuckerman, University of California, Los AngelesPRESENTED ON June 27, 2005
-
Self-Dissimilarity: An Empirical Complexity Signature
PRESENTED ON April 25, 2005
-
Methane on Mars: Geochemistry or Biology?
Michael Mumma, NASA Goddard Space Flight CenterPRESENTED ON March 28, 2005
-
Methane on Mars: What Does It Mean?
James Lyons, University of California, Los AngelesPRESENTED ON March 28, 2005
-
Iron Isotope Constraints on the Early Redox History of the Oceans
Olivier Rouxel, Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionPRESENTED ON February 28, 2005
-
Titan: A Personal View After Cassini's First Six Months in Saturn Orbit
Jonathan Lunine, Cornell UniversityPRESENTED ON January 24, 2005
-
Drilling in Permafrost on Mars to Search for a Second Genesis of Life
Christopher McKay, NASA Ames Research CenterPRESENTED ON November 29, 2004
-
Anaerobic Methanotrophs in the Marine Subsurface
Christopher House, Pennsylvania State UniversityPRESENTED ON October 25, 2004
-
A New Mechanism of Mass Extinction - and 15 Minutes About a New Tree of Life
Peter Ward, University of WashingtonPRESENTED ON September 27, 2004
-
Exploring the Living Cosmos: The Spitzer Space Telescope
Victoria Meadows, University of WashingtonPRESENTED ON April 26, 2004
-
Organic Biosignatures: Earthly Biomarkers, Analytical Approaches, Old Rocks and Meteorites
Roger Summons, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPRESENTED ON March 22, 2004
-
The Mars Exploration Rovers Unveil New Horizons for Astrobiology
David Des Marais, NASA Ames Research CenterPRESENTED ON February 23, 2004
-
Unveiling a Supermassive Black Hole at the Center of Our Galaxy
Andrea Ghez, University of California, Los AngelesPRESENTED ON January 26, 2004
-
An Fe, S-Sustained Subsurface Biosphere: Insights Through Linking Geochemistry and Genomics
Jill Banfield, University of California, BerkeleyPRESENTED ON November 24, 2003
-
Organic Biosignatures for Microbial Processes in the Terrestrial Marine Subsurface
Kai-Uwe Hinrichs, Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionPRESENTED ON October 27, 2003
-
Eukaryotes at pH Extremes
PRESENTED ON August 25, 2003
-
Microbial and Genomic Insights Into Microbial Life in Permafrost
James Tiedje, Michigan State UniversityPRESENTED ON July 28, 2003
-
Multicellular and Multicolonial Bacterial Patterns: Implications for Astrobiology
PRESENTED ON June 23, 2003
-
Star and Planet Formation
John Bally, University of Colorado, BoulderPRESENTED ON May 19, 2003
-
Experimental Window Into High Pressure Geobiology
Anurag Sharma, Rensselaer Polytechnic InstitutePRESENTED ON April 28, 2003
-
The Formation of Giant Planets
Thomas Quinn, University of WashingtonPRESENTED ON March 24, 2003
-
Probing the Limits of Earth¹s Deep Biosphere
David Smith, University of Rhode IslandPRESENTED ON February 24, 2003
-
Sulfur Cycling on the Early Earth
Bruce Runnegar, NASA Astrobiology InstitutePRESENTED ON November 25, 2002
-
Life Detection and Sensors: Bio-Info-Nano Science
PRESENTED ON October 28, 2002
-
Mars - the Astrobiology Connection
Ronald Greeley, Arizona State UniversityPRESENTED ON May 20, 2002
-
Mineral Catalysts and Pre-Biotic Carbon Fixation
George Cody, Carnegie Institution for SciencePRESENTED ON April 29, 2002
-
Novel Isotopic Biosignatures: Promise & Progress
Ariel Anbar, Arizona State UniversityPRESENTED ON March 25, 2002
-
Extreme Life and Biological Diversity in Our Solar System
Norman Pace, University of Colorado, BoulderPRESENTED ON February 25, 2002
-
From Interstellar Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Ice to Astrobiology
Louis Allamandola, NASA Ames Research CenterPRESENTED ON January 28, 2002