What can learning about ice on Earth tell us about possible single or multicellular life on Europa? Dr. Britney Schmidt talks about the trapped lakes under the surface of one of Jupiter’s moons that might harbor life.
Dr. Schmidt is a research scientist at The University of Texas Institute for Geophysics. Her talk, “Life on Europa? Exploring Jupiter’s Icy Moon”, is part of the awesome Hot Science – Cool Talks series, presented by the Environmental Science Institute.
This is part two of Commander Ben’s interview series with Dr. Schmidt.
Dr. Britney Schmidt describes her upcoming presentation, “Life on Europa? Exploring Jupiter’s Icy Moon”, and talks about astrobiology, the study of the rise of life in habitable planetary systems.
Dr. Schmidt is a research scientist at The University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, and her presentation is part of the awesome Hot Science – Cool Talks series, hosted by the Environmental Science Institute.
This is part one of Commander Ben’s interview series with Dr. Schmidt.
I loved seeing Dr. Jay Banner, director of the Environmental Science Institute, on the University of Texas at Austin campus (and I think he strayed onto “The Drag” too) interviewing all kinds of people, asking them if there’s life on other planets.
They had hugely varied responses from yes to no to ahhh…maybe.
This is a great video promoting the next Hot Science – Cool Talks about possible life on Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons. Dr. Britney Schmidt, research scientist with the UT Institute for Geophysics, will be presenting her latest research on Europa during the talk.
Watch the video to see what other questions Dr. Banner asked, and be sure to come to the next Hot Science – Cool Talk presentation on Friday, April 13, 2012, to learn more about Europa with Dr. Schmidt.
Commander Ben…signing off
P.S. You won’t believe what I did the other day! I had breakfast with Dr. Schmidt, and I had a great video interview with her about Europa, astrobiology, how she became a scientist, and more. I’m working on the videos for upload, and I look forward to sharing them with you soon. I learned so much from her, and I know that you will too!
Although an attractive fish for aquariums, when West African Jewel Cichlids invade the ecosystems in Northern Mexico, they can cause havoc. Ms. Laura Dugan describes her research on this invasive fish, and how she is trying to determine the impacts of the species’ competition with natives and factors for their distribution and spread.
Ms. Dugan, a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin, also talked about her lab experiments into the temperature profile of the fish, including their:
Thermal range (determined as 14-40 degrees Celsius)
Temperature preference (reviewing the results now)
Optimal temperature for growth (will be researching soon)
She is also researching the competition between this invasive fish and native fish that live in northern Mexico too. She will weigh the fish before and after the experiments to see if they grew.
Thanks for talking with me Ms. Dugan and for helping me make my first video about invasive fish. I also found your blog talking about your past research.
I learned about Science Under the Stars in May 2011 when I entered my very first science video as part of their video contest. I won first place (yea!), and they gave me a fantastic navy blue shirt (thanks!) with their logo and a fire ant (invasive!) carrying off the state of Texas.
Before this month’s talk, they had a neat activity to help you learn about Charles Darwin’s Finches. They showed plates with different foods, such as rice, beans, and chocolate covered walnuts, and they also had different tweezers and tongs. They showed how the finches developed very specialized beaks (the utensils) to pick up the different sized food.
Conflict Avoidance: How NOT Competing Can Be The Ticket to Success
She gave a lot of examples and talked about many scientists, including one who observed a lot of different species of birds that lived in a tree. He found that the different species lived in different parts of the tree and avoided conflict with each other.
I was happy to see Dr. Greg Clark again at this year’s Explore UT. I first met Dr. Clark with the Shadow a Scientist Program last year. This program gives middle school students the chance to go on a two hour tour with real scientists at UT Austin.
It was a fantastic experience. Dr. Clark is a research scientist with the College of Natural Sciences, and I enjoyed going around his lab and greenhouse and seeing his experiments. I remember him talking about plant mutation and showing us how normal plant roots go straight down, and how the roots of mutated plants grow wavy and crooked.
If you’re a middle school student, this is an experience not to be missed! Sign up for this great program during the summer by contacting Dr. Clark on the Shadow a Scientist site that’s part of the College of Natural Science’s Freshman Research Initiative. He would love to hear from you!
My name is Commander Ben and I'm the Invasive Hunter. I educate kids of all ages - and all learning styles - about invasive species, science, and dyslexia.
Commander Ben 