Nordic-Hawai'i Summer School "Water, Ice and the Origin of Life in the Universe", 2-15 July 2012

Course organisers
The summer school will be organised by Wolf D. Geppert ( Stockholm University, Sweden) and Karen Meech (University of Hawai'i, USA) and in co-operation with the University of Iceland and the other scientists involved in the Nordic Network of Astrobiology Graduate Schools.

The following lecturers will give presentations at the summer school (please check the Programme webpage for a preliminary schedule):

Prof. Nils-Kåre Birkeland, University of Bergen, Norway Nils-Kåre Birkeland is working at the Norwegian Centre of Excellence for Geobiology located at the University of Bergen. He has a broad interest in molecular microbiology and microbial physiology/biotechnology.His main research area are thermophiles growing at temperatures up to 100oC. To learn more abouthis research, view his homepage.
Prof. Cecilia Ceccarelli, Grenoble Observatory, France Cecilia Ceccarrelli is astronomer at the Laboratoire d'Astrophisique at the Observatoire de Grenoble.She is mainly working in the field of star formation, formation of protoplanetary disks and molecular deuteration in the Universe.In 2006 she was awarded the Irène Joliot-Curie Prize as Woman in Science of the Year in France. To find out more about Cecilia Cecarelli’s research click this link. A CV of her can be found here.
Prof. Charles Cockell, University of Edinburgh, UK His academic interests encompass life in extreme environments, the interactions of microbes with minerals and the implications for earth system processes and the habitability of extraterrestrial environments. He received his first degree in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Bristol and his PhD (DPhil) from the University of Oxford in molecular biology. He then undertook a National Research Council Associateship at the NASA Ames Research Centre in California before working at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge.He moved to the Open University to take up a Chair in Geomicrobiology in 2005.Professor Cockell sits on ESA?s Planetary Protection and Life Sciences Working Groups.He is a Senior Editor of the journal 'Astrobiology' and his popular science books include ?Impossible Extinction?, which explores the tenacity of microbes on the Earth, and ?Space on Earth?, which looks at the links between environmentalism and space exploration.He is Chair of the Earth and Space Foundation, a non-profit organisation he established in 1994. Some peculiar information about Charles Cockell's career (includiung a stint in politics) can be found here.
Dr. David Des Marais, NASA Ames Research Centre, USA Dr. David Des Marais is a senior space scientist at NASA Ames Research Center. He has investigated the geochemistry of lunar samples, meteorites and both volcanic and ancient sedimentary rocks from Earth. He coordinated a long-term study of benthic cyanobacterial microbial ecosystems. David is Principal Investigator of the Ames Research Center Team of the NASA Astrobiology Institute. He is currently a member of the science teams of NASA?s 2003 Mars Exploration Rover mission, the 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, the 2011 Mars Science Laboratory mission and the 2016 ExoMars/Trace Gas Orbiter mission. He has published more than 160 technical articles and chapters on these topics. David is Chair of NASA?s Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group. .
Prof. James W. Head III., Brown University, Rhode Island, USA Professor Head studies themes of planetary evolution and the role of volcanism and tectonism in the formation and evolution of planetary crusts. Several research projects are underway in the field in Antarctica, on the Earth's seafloor, and in assessing data from planetary surfaces to study climate change on Mars, volcanism on the Moon, Mars and Venus, the geology of the surface of Mercury and the tectonic and volcanic evolution of icy satellites. Prof. Head earned a B.S. from Washington and Lee University in 1964 and his Ph.D. from Brown University in 1969. During 4 years with Bellcomm, Inc. in Washington, DC in the NASA Systems Analysis Branch, his research focus shifted to planetary geology studies relating to the Apollo Lunar Exploration Program including training of Apollo astronauts. Following a position as Interim Director of the Houston Lunar Science Institute, he joined the Brown Department of Geological Sciences as assistant professor (research) in 1973, then was promoted to full professor in 1980, named to the James Manning Chair in 1990, and in 1995 was named to the Louis and Elizabeth Scherck Professorship in Geological Sciences. MOre information about Prof. Head's research can be found here.
Prof. Nils Holm, Stockholm University, Sweden Nils Holm is Professor of Marine Geochemistry at the Department of Geological Sciences at Stockholm University. He has specialized in different aspects of astrobiology like the organic geochemistry of hydrothermal fluids, organic-inorganic interactions, the Deep Biosphere concept and origin of life studies. Holm has been heavily involved in science evaluation of the Ocean Drilling programme (ODP) and has participated in ODP Leg 158 TAG Hydrothermal System (1994) and Leg 201 Peru Deep Biosphere (2002). His research is mainly funded by the Swedish National Space Board and the Swedish Research Council.
Prof. Karen J. Meech, University of Hawai'i, USA Karen Meech is an astronomer at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy.  Her scientific interests include several areas of cometary science: evolution and aging processes in comets, observations of distant comets, Kuiper belt comets and astrobiology.  Other scientific interests include planetary formation and the search for extra-solar planetary systems, archaeoastronomy and variable stars.  She received her Bachelor of Arts in Physics at Rice University in 1981, and her PhD in planetary astronomy at the MIT in 1987.  Karen has been a Co-Investigator on the NASA Deep Impact mission, in charge of coordinating the world?s observing.  She is playing a similar role for NASA?s EPOXI and StardustNExT Missions.  She is leading an effort from the UH in collaboration with scientists at JPL and several other US and foreign institutions to develop a proposal for a NASA Discovery mission to the main belt comets.  She has been an active member in the international astronomy community and is currently the president of Division III Planetary Systems Sciences of the International Astronomic Union.  Karen is the PI leading the UH NASA Astrobiology Institute, and is keenly interested in issues related to the origin of water on Earth and habitable planets.  She?s also very active in teaching and outreach.  Karen apparently does not know what free time is, but if she had any she very much enjoys camping, hiking, swimming, scuba diving, piano playing and reading (in the hadean epoch of her career she actually practiced some of these things).  She is one of the co-organisers of this summer school. For more information check her homepage.
Dr. BorgÞor Magnusson, Icelandic Institute of Natural History BorgÞor Magnusson is a plant ecologist and research scientist at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History. As an undergraduate in biology, Magnusson first stepped his foot on Surtsey in 1975. The stay on the new island and experiencing the early colonization of plants and birds in a remote and hostile environment had a strong influence on Magnusson's decision to become an ecologist. Surtsey is now his favorite research area, and he takes part in an expedition to the island every summer. Magnusson and his colleagues have set up a long-term study on Surtsey to closely follow plant colonization and succession and how it is affected by sea gulls breeding on the island. Magnusson received his Ph.D. in botany from the University of Manitoba, Canada. He also earned an M.Sc. in ecology from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and a B.Sc. in biology from the University of Iceland. He worked as a high school teacher and research assistant before going to graduate school.
Prof. Hans Olofsson, Onsala Space Observatory, Sweden Hans Olofsson is professor of radio astronomy and director of the Onsala Space Observatory, the Swedish National Facility for Radio Astronomy, at Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg. His main fields of research are the distribution, kinematics, and physical/chemical structure of the star-forming gas on galactic scales, and the final evolution of solar-type stars. Both these aspects of the life cycle of stars have an astrobiological bearing. The former establishes the large-scale boundary conditions for the origin of life. The latter has a direct bearing on any existing life through the evolution of the central star, and, as the star approaches its death, an indirect effect through the production of heavier elements and complex (in an astronomical sense) molecules. More information can be found here.
Dr. Þorsteinn Þorsteinsson, Icelandic Meteorological Office, Iceland Þorsteinn Þorsteinsson s a glaciologist working at the Icelandic Meteorological Office. He also teaches part-time at the University of Iceland. Þorsteinn did his PhD-work on ice textures and fabrics at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany, and he has participated in several deep ice coring projects in Greenland and Antarctica. Since 2000 he has mainly focused on various glaciological research and monitoring programs in Iceland, including studies of subglacial lakes beneath the Vatnajökull ice cap. He has lead the local organizing of several astrobiology-related events in Iceland, including the 2nd Mars Polar Conference in Iceland in 2000, the Bioastronomy 2004: Habitable Worlds conference and the NASA-Nordic Summer School in 2009. .
Prof. Jack Hunter Waite, South West Research Institute, USA Dr. Waite is a planetary scientist specializing in the application of mass spectrometry to the study of solar system biogeochemistry and aeronomy.  He is involved in research projects in ion/neutral mass spectrometry, gas chromatography, biogeochemistry, thermospheric modeling, and planetary astronomy.  Following completion of his undergraduate studies in physics at the University of Alabama in 1976, he began graduate work in atmospheric science at the University of Michigan. He received a M.S. in atmospheric science in 1978 and, in 1981, was awarded a Ph.D. for his development of a model of Saturn's ionosphere. From 1981 to 1988, Dr. Waite was a Research Scientist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, where he was heavily involved in the analysis of Dynamics Explorer data on ion outflow from the Earth's ionosphere. From 1988 to 2000, Dr. Waite was at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), where he was Director of the Space Science Department of the Instrumentation and Space Research Division. Although still involved in studies of the Earth's coupled ionosphere-magnetosphere system, Professor Waite's work at SwRI was strongly focused on planetary research. In January of 2001, Dr. Waite became a full professor in the University of Michigan, Department of Engineering, Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences department. . Dr. Waite returned to SwRI as an Institute Scientist in May of 2006. His primary responsibilities include Director of the Center for Excellence in Analytical Mass Spectrometry, where he is involved in the definition and development of ion and neutral mass spectrometers and gas chromatographic techniques. He is the Team Leader for the Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer investigation, co-investigator and lead SwRI hardware manager for the Rosetta/Rosina Reflectron Time-of-Flight, and principal investigator for the development of a Jupiter Thermosphere-Ionosphere General Circulation Model. Dr. Waite is a member of the American Geophysical Union, the American Astronomical Society, and Sigma Xi and a former editor of the AGU letters journal, Geophysical Research Letters. In 1996, he was named Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Michigan's College of Engineering. MOre information about him can be found here.
Dr. Wolf Geppert, Stockholm University, Sweden Wolf D. Geppert received his Ph. D. in Physical Chemistry at the University of York in 2000. Since then he has been working in the field of astrochemistry - mostly with experiments to investigate barrier-less reactions of importance for the synthesis of molecules in the interstellar medium and planetary ionospheres. After several post-doctoral positions in Bordeaux, Helsinki and Stockholm he obtained his current position as a Senior Researcher at Stockholm University in 2007. His work mainly concerns studying the formation of complex molecules in space through ion induced processes using experimental, observational and computational methods. Wolf Geppert is Coordinator of the Nordic Astrobiology Network of and Director of the Stockholm University Astrobiology Centre. He is also Vice Chair of the European Union COST Action "The Chemical Cosmos: Understanding Chemistry in Astronomical Environments".