Delaney 2014 Spring Lecture Descriptions

Co-presented by the University of Washington Alumni Association and Seattle Arts and Lectures

7 pm in Kane Hall on the UW Seattle Campus

Lecture 4 (May 20): Undiscovered Life Forms Below the Seafloor and Beyond the Planet. This lively, on-stage dialogue between John Delaney and UW professor of oceanography and astrobiology, John Baross, will explore the role of submarine volcanoes in the origin and evolution of life on Earth and the potential for finding life in similar settings on other planets and moons. Baross led the National Academy of Sciences committee that provided guidance for scientific study of the limits of organic life in planetary systems. Delaney served on NASA committees that defined the nature of missions to the icy moons of Jupiter.

Lecture 5 (November 13): The VISIONS ’14 Expedition: Completing Construction of the World’s Largest Cabled Ocean Observatory Plans call for an eleven-week at-sea expedition in summer 2014, with John Delaney as Chief Scientist. The goal is to complete construction of the regional cabled ocean observatory, which is led by UW and is part of the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative. In this lecture, Delaney will report on the expedition and present the newest underwater high-definition video footage taken with the robotic undersea vehicle, ROPOS.  Follow activities during VISIONS ’14 via the expedition website.