A Talk at McMurdo
McMurdo station has a regular Sunday night science seminar series. Dale and I gave the one last night. It was lots of fun. Dale started with a bit of the history of exploration of the lakes in the Dry Valleys as well as some of his work in other parts of Antarctica and the Arctic. He also introduced many of the key questions in Astrobiology. I followed with an introduction to earth history, the origins of photosynthesis, and why I'm interested in the mats. I ended with a bit of speculation about Mars.
I would guess that more than 100 people showed up, and at the end of the presentation, Dale and I answered questions for more than 20 minutes to the group. A dozen other people asked questions informally later. It was very well received.
Giving talks is an important part of being a scientist. Sometimes the audience is very educated in your particular field of study, sometimes they know very little about the topic you are talking about. In this case, our audience was a mix of people varying from those very little science background to fellow scientists with a lot of specific knowledge. With an audience like this, I try to use simple terminology so that any attentive person can follow the logic of what I'm saying, but I also point out some of the interesting complications in the ideas and interpretations that other scientists will appreciate. It can be tough, but balancing clarity and content is a skill that can be learned.
Here are a few of my slides in a different order than in my talk because I'm not actually talking. The first few slides provide some examples of fossils in the rock record. I'm not sure that the laminae in the second slide are actually from microbial mats, and there might not be fossils from that early on Earth. The examples in the other slides almost certainly represent fossils.
Sharing my thoughts in both talks and this blog help me develop the ideas more thoroughly. It often triggers new ideas as well, particularly when people ask questions about my science.
I would guess that more than 100 people showed up, and at the end of the presentation, Dale and I answered questions for more than 20 minutes to the group. A dozen other people asked questions informally later. It was very well received.
Giving talks is an important part of being a scientist. Sometimes the audience is very educated in your particular field of study, sometimes they know very little about the topic you are talking about. In this case, our audience was a mix of people varying from those very little science background to fellow scientists with a lot of specific knowledge. With an audience like this, I try to use simple terminology so that any attentive person can follow the logic of what I'm saying, but I also point out some of the interesting complications in the ideas and interpretations that other scientists will appreciate. It can be tough, but balancing clarity and content is a skill that can be learned.
Here are a few of my slides in a different order than in my talk because I'm not actually talking. The first few slides provide some examples of fossils in the rock record. I'm not sure that the laminae in the second slide are actually from microbial mats, and there might not be fossils from that early on Earth. The examples in the other slides almost certainly represent fossils.
The next few slides compare modern mats from hot springs, lakes, and ice-covered lakes. The idea is that these modern microbial mats might help us interpret some of the rocks shown in slides 3 and 5. You have to compare the rocks and modern mats in 3D to really see the similarities.
The next slides talk about what we hope to accomplish in the field and then in the lab work we'll do with the samples after we get home.
Finally, I mention Mars Science Laboratory, NASA's next rover mission. My favorite potential landing site is Gale Crater, which is shown in this last slide. I think that it may have been an ice covered lake repeatedly early in Mars' history. Maybe there would be some similarities to what we see around and in Lake Joyce.
Sharing my thoughts in both talks and this blog help me develop the ideas more thoroughly. It often triggers new ideas as well, particularly when people ask questions about my science.
