"Would Leonardo da Vinci Make a Good Astrobiologist?”

August 24, 2018 • 6:30pm - 8pm

By Penelope J. Boston, Ph.D.

Director, NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI)

Leonardo daVInci was a polymath across the arts, sciences, and engineering.  If he lived today, how would he relate to the highly interdisciplinary field of Astrobiology?  Would he be one of our greatest astrobiologists ever?  How can today’s astrobiologists and interested citizens be “Leonardo-like” as we contemplate the question of whether there are other lifeforms in our own Solar System and beyond on the myriad of exoplanets around our neighboring stars?

Dr. Boston, Director of NASA's Astrobiology Institute, is an internationally recognized scientist who also explores art along with the interdisciplinary aspects of astrobiology. She studies extremophiles (extreme microbial lifeforms) on Earth and the possibilities of similar life on other planets. Prior to her appointment with NASA she was founder and director of the Cave and Karst Studies Program, and faculty member at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro. She has been featured in many science documentaries shown on PBS and National Geographic.

She has a B.S. in microbiology, geology, and psychology, and a M.S. in microbiology and atmospheric chemistry. She earned her Ph.D. from University of Colorado Boulder.

This lecture is sponsored by the New Mexico Academy of Science in partnership with the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science.