A new, Australian sample return mission to Mars in the search for a second genesis

Speaker:  Professor Martin Van Kranendonk, Director of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, UNSW

Abstract:  This seminar will present ideas to Think Big!

Bio:  Martin Van Kranendonk was born and trained in Canada, receiving his PhD in 1992 and then undertaking a post-doc position at the Geological Survey of Canada from 1992-1994. In 1994, Martin moved to Australia as an ARC post-doctoral fellow at the University of Newcastle, where he commenced research on the Pilbara. He then joined the Geological Survey of Western Australia in 1997, where he worked for 15 years until the start of 2012 when he accepted a position as Professor of Geology at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. Director of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, Martin is a leading world expert on the early history of the Earth, including the habitats and metabolisms of the earliest traces of life, mechanisms of crust formation, and Archean tectonics. Martin has appeared on numerous television and radio documentaries on early Earth and has been involved in educational outreach programs for school children and the general public.