Newswise — Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, November 27, 2013 – We can set foot on faraway planets, in a sense, by exploring the world beneath our feet. Underground caves provide unique insights into what we might find beneath alien landscapes. By studying earthly caves we can better understand how they form, the spectacular minerals they produce, and the unusual creatures – from microbes to vertebrates – that thrive in them.
On Wednesday, December 4, 2013, as part of Perimeter Institute’s Public Lecture Series presented by Sun Life Financial, join Dr. Penelope Boston on a spelunking adventure into Earth’s most extreme underground environments for a glimpse at distant worlds and life forms that may inhabit them.
Dr. Penelope Boston is Director of the Cave and Karst Studies Program and Professor in the Earth & Environmental Sciences Department at the New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, in Socorro, NM. Boston is also Associate Director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute in Carlsbad, NM. Her research areas include geomicrobiology and astrobiology in extreme environments (caves, hot and cold deserts, high latitudes and altitudes); human life support issues in space and planetary environments; and use of robotics to assist exploration and science in extreme Earth and extraterrestrial environments. Boston is author of over 150 technical and popular publications, editor of 4 volumes, and author of an upcoming popular book. Her work has been featured in over 150 print and broadcast media outlets over the past several decades. Boston is recipient of the Science Award for lifelong achievement from the National Speleological Society, a Fellow of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, named a Caving Legend by the Ft. Stanton Cave Study Project, and recipient of the 2013 David P. McKay Life on Mars Award. As a student at the University of Colorado in the early 1980s, she co-founded the Case for Mars project and series of conferences.
Boston’s lecture, entitled “The Planet Within: Caves from Earth to Mars and Beyond”, will be held on Wednesday, December 4 at 7:00 PM ET in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Please visit Perimeter’s website for further details. You can view past public lectures and events online here.
Further details can be found at www.perimeterinstitute.ca.
Media inquiriesAdam Stewart, External Relations Specialist[email protected]519.569.7600 x7518
About Perimeter InstitutePerimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is an independent, non-profit, scientific research organization working to advance our understanding of physical laws and develop new ideas about the very essence of space, time, matter and information. Located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, Perimeter also provides a wide array of research training and educational outreach activities to nurture scientific talent and share the importance of discovery and innovation among students, teachers and the general public. In partnership with the Governments of Ontario and Canada, Perimeter is a successful example of public-private collaboration in scientific research, training and outreach. Visit www.perimeterinstitute.ca.
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