|
Prof.
David Dunér, Lund University, Sweden David Dunér is
Professor in history of science and ideas. His dissertation concerned the
scientist and spirit seer Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), The World
Machine. Emanuel Swedenborgs Natural Philosophy (2004). His research concerns: Emanuel
Swedenborg, Christopher Polhem, Carl Linnaeus, history of entomology, and
history of astrobiology. He is also affiliated to Centre for Cognitive
Semiotics.
|
|
Dr.
Jes Jǿrgensen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark My
research focuses on the physical and chemical structure of the earliest
stages of star-formation - including the evolution of protostars and the
formation and early evolution of circumstellar (protoplanetary) disks.
This effort is predominantly based on observations at infrared and
(sub)millimeter wavelengths - where we utilize large ground-based
facilities such as the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, the Submillimeter
Array and the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer, the ESO telescopes as
well as observations from space-based telescopes including the Herschel
Space Observatory.
|
|
Dr.
Erik Persson, Lund University, Sweden Erik Persson
has a PhD in philosophy from Lund University. He is particularly
interested in the philosophical aspects of biology, environmental problems
and space exploration, especially astrobiology. Within the philosophy of
astrobiology he has published texts on a wide range of subjects, for
instance regarding the moral status of alien life, the criteria for
pronouncing a world lifeless, and the definition of life. |
|
Prof. Kelly Smith, Clemson University, USA
Kelly Smith received his Masters degree in biology from Duke University in 1992, followed by a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1994. His research is wide-ranging and includes work on philosophical issues surrounding the search for life on other planets, the concept of genetic disease, the relationship between religious faith and scientific reasoning, ethical implications of new technologies, complex systems in developmental and evolutionary biology, and the origins and nature of life. |
|
Dr.
Stephane Tirard, University of Nantes, France Stéphane
Tirard is Professor in epistemology and history of biology at the
University of Nantes (France). He is director of the Centre François
Viéte d'épistemologie et d'histoire des sciences et des techniques in
this university. His research activities are focused on topics on the
limits of life (origins of life, latent life, cellular theories) and on
history of botany during the XIXth century. He published many papers in
journals and book, he co-directed 8 books and he is one of the editors of
the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology (Gargaud M. Ed. chief, Springer
2011, 2nd edition in preparation). In 2010, he published: Histoire de
la vie latente : des animaux ressuscitants du XVIIIême á la
cryoconservation des embryons au XXême siècle, itinéraires d'une forme de
vie (Vuibert- Adapt). |
|
Dr.
Douglas Vakoch, METI, USA
Douglas Vakoch, Ph.D., is President of METI, a nonprofit research and educational organization dedicated to transmitting intentional signals to nearby stars, as well as fostering sustainability of human civilization on multigenerational timescales—a prerequisite for a project that could take centuries or millennia to succeed. He is an elected member of the International Institute for Space Law, and he serves as chair of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Study Group on Active SETI: Scientific, Technical, Societal, and Legal Dimensions. Prior to founding METI, for sixteen years Dr. Vakoch worked at the SETI Institute, where he was Director of Interstellar Message Composition. |
 |
Prof.
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 post-doctoral positions in Bordeaux, Helsinki
and Stockholm he was promoted to Full Professor at Stockholm University in
2014. 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 Chair of thE european astrobiology Institute, 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 "Origins and Evolution of Life on Earth and in the
Universe" and the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership "European
Astrobiology Campus". He also functions as also Handling Editor of the new
journal "Molecular Astropysics". |
|