Previous Workshops
Evolutionary Watersheds: Genome or Biome?
Date: 11-13 October 2007
Location: B2 Institute, Biosphere 2 Oracle, Arizona
This workshop explored the various possibilities for how truly major evolutionary watersheds were triggered - by external or internal events - and the implications of these for the presence of complex life elsewhere in the cosmos. Participants discussed the roles of catastrophic events, including "snowball Earth" episodes, chemical changes in the atmosphere, ocean turnover, mega impacts, supernova explosions and others. Researchers considered evolutionary processes, including growth in genomic complexity, symbiosis, lateral gene exchange and others. The workshop generated collaborations and research agenda for interdisciplinary projects in astrobiology.
For more information about the workshop outcomes, contact Jonathan Lunine.
