Patten lectures to include life on Mars debate

From early life on Earth to the possibility of life on Mars, Harvard University professor Andrew Knoll will be presenting two public lectures that span 600 million years of history.

His first lecture, “Life on a Young Planet,” is today, and he will speak about “Meridiani, Opportunity, and the Search for Life on Mars” on Thursday.

The lectures, part of the Patten Foundation Lecture Series, the oldest lecture series at IU, will be at 7:30 p.m. in Rawles Hall.

The first lecture will focus on the life that defined Earth in its early and middle age. Knoll will discuss the genealogical connections between today’s organisms and the traces of life from 600 million years ago. He will also talk about geochemical research, which establishes a pattern of coevolution.

The second lecture will focus on the possibility of past or present life on Mars. Knoll will talk about NASA evidence of liquid water on Mars. He will also address the debate of Martian life, including topics that contradict ideas of Martian life, such as the mineral composition of the planet and the studies of the landscape.

The next speaker in the series will be W. J. T. Mitchell, the Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service professor at the University of Chicago.

His speeches will be on March 30 and April 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Rawles Hall.

Knoll has positions in both of Harvard’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology.