Events

Events at the Center for Planetary Systems Habitability bridge disciplines and bring together scientists and researchers from across campus.

CPSH Seminar Series

Location: PMA 15.216B, Physics, Math and Astronomy Bldg.
UT Austin, Department of Astronomy
2515 Speedway, Stop C1400
Austin, Texas 78712-1205

Online: To join online contact Brandon Jones, or subscribe to our seminar mailing list.

Recordings: Find past talks at our YouTube channel @UTexasPlanetary

photo of Cayman
Monday, February 26, 2024 1:00pm – 2:00pm

A matter of time: linking observations and models to test the temporal limits of exoplanet habitability

Cayman Unterborn

Senior Research Scientist

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)

More info


External Events

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More off campus events

Past Events

Photo of people in a workshop
Friday, February 16, 2024 12:15pm – 4:15pm

Research Retreat

Workshop: 12:15 — 4:15 p.m.
Happy hour: 4:15 — 5:30 p.m.

We invite members and friends of the Center for Planetary Systems Habitability to join our 2024 research retreat!

Location: AT&T Hotel & Conference Center

More info

Photo of Chris Glein
Monday, February 12, 2024 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Is there P in Enceladus’s ocean?

Christopher Glein

Lead Scientist, Space Science

Southwest Research Institute

More info

Portrait of Andy
Monday, January 22, 2024 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Earth’s Ancient Biosphere: An Analogue For Life In the Universe

Andy Czaja

Associate Professor

Department of Geosciences, University of Cincinnati

More info

Photo of Eva Scheller
Monday, November 24, 2023 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Searching for Mars’ missing carbonates

Eva L. Scheller

Heising-Simons Postdoctoral Fellow

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

More info

Portrait photo of Douglas Hemingway
Monday, November 13, 2023 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Icy ocean world interiors—techniques and implications

Doug Hemingway

Assistant Research Professor

University of Texas Institute for Geophysics

Recording available on request.

More info

Graduate Student Short Talks

Monday, October 23, 2023 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Watch the recorded talks.

Photo of Lina Zaharias

Talk 1: Simulating Hydrogen in the Tiger Stripes of Enceladus

Melina Zaharias

Graduate Student

Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, UT Cockrell School of Engineering

More info

Photo of Chun-Yi Wu

Talk 2: Planetary moon tour trajectory planning

Chun-Yi Wu

Graduate Student

Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, UT Cockrell School of Engineering

More info

Photo of Mohammad Afzal Shadab Edit

Talk 3: Impact generated melt foundering on icy ocean worlds

Mohammad Afzal Shadab

Graduate Student

UT Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences

(note: Afzal’s talk was not recorded)

More info

Photo of Max
Monday, October 16, 2023 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Special Seminar

Dos and Don’ts of NASA Proposals

Max Bernstein

SMD Lead for Research

NASA Headquarters, Planetary Science Division

Watch the recorded talk.

More info

Portrait close-up of Lia Marta Bernabò
Monday, October 9, 2023 1:00pm – 2:00pm

A radial velocity analysis technique to determine planetary interiors

Lia Marta Bernabò

PhD student

German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research

Watch the recorded talk.

More info

Portrait photo of Valerie De Anda
Monday, September 25, 2023 1:00pm – 2:00pm

From Eukaryogenesis to Membrane Origins: using microbial metabolism as fossil record of early life

Valerie De Anda

Provost’s Early Career Fellow and a Research Associate

Marine Science Institute, The University of Texas at Austin

Watch the recorded talk.

More info

Sascha Grziwa
Monday, September 11, 2023 1:00pm – 2:00pm

The upcoming hunt for exoplanets in the habitable zone: Advances in the detection of exoplanets in the context of the upcoming ESA space mission PLATO

Sascha Grziwa

Research Associate

Rhenish Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Planetary Research, University of Cologne, Germany

Watch the recorded talk.

More info

Hector Garza Dobs Linn Scotland

Two Talk Special!

April 24, 2023 1:00pm – 2:00pm

How old is the Ordovician-Silurian Boundary at Dob’s Linn, Scotland? Integrating LA-ICP-MS and CA-ID-TIMS U-Pb zircon dates

Hector Garza

Doctoral Degree Student

Jackson School of Geosciences Department of Geological Sciences

Charlie Zheng

Resilience of marine infaunal communities under a short-lived environmental perturbation: cause of the shelf anoxia and origin of intrashelf basins

Charlie Zheng

Doctoral Degree Student

Jackson School of Geosciences Department of Geological Sciences

Watch the recorded talks.

Picture of Charles Cockell
Monday, April 10, 2023 1:00pm – 2:00pm

The subsurface habitability of Mars

Charles Cockell

Professor of Astrobiology, UK Center for Astrobiology

University of Edinburgh

Watch the recorded talk.

More info

Portrait photo of Katie Teixeira

Two Talk Special!

March 27, 2023 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Modeling the Evolution of Terrestrial Planet Atmospheres Through Outgassing and Escape

Katie Teixeira

Graduate Research Assistant

UT College of Natural Sciences

Portrait photo of Jialong Ren

Permeability Limited Compaction and (De)Serpentinization of Ceres

Jialong Ren

Graduate Student

UT Jackson School of Geosciences

Watch the recorded talks.

More info

Picture of Ben Teolis
February 27, 2023 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Gas Jets and Exospheric Dynamics at Active Icy Worlds

Ben Teolis

Planetary Scientist

Southwest Research Institute

Watch the recorded talk.

More info

Mark Lever
February 13, 2023 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Potential importance of diffuse hydrothermal fluid seepage in supporting life along deep sea fracture zones

Mark Lever

Associate Professor

UT Marine Science Institute

Watch the recorded talk.

More info

Sean Gulick portrait
January 23, 2023 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Beyond Mass Extinction: Hydrothermal Habitats at the Chicxulub and Ries Impact Structures

Sean Gulick

Co-Director, UT Center for Planetary Systems Habitability

Research Professor, University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences

Watch the recorded talk.

More info

Sara Miller Photo
November 28, 2022 1:00pm – 2:00pm

A General Circulation Model to Assess the Dynamics and Habitability of Europa’s Ocean

Sara Miller

Graduate Student

Department of Astronomy Cornell University

Watch the recorded talk.

More info

Edwin Kite
November 14, 2022 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Exoplanet Atmosphere Recipes

Edwin Kite

Associate Professor

Department of the Geophysical Sciences
The University of Chicago

Watch the recorded talk.

More info

Tim Lyons Photo
October 31, 2022 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Rethinking the search for the origins of life: Prebiotic chemistry and early Earth environments

Timothy Lyons

Distinguished Professor of Biogeochemistry

UC Riverside Earth and Planetary Sciences

Watch the recorded talk.

More info

Kevin Hand
October 24, 2022 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Ocean Worlds of the Outer Solar System

Kevin Hand

PI & Director, Ocean Worlds Lab

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Watch the recorded talk.

More info

Portrait of Eric Hiatt
October 10, 2022 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Limited Recharge of the Highland Aquifer on Early Mars

Eric Hiatt

Graduate Research Assistant

University of Texas Institute for Geophysics

More info

Loren Williams
September 26, 2022 1:00pm – 2:00pm

What does biochemistry tell us about habitability?

Loren Williams

Director

Center for the Origin Of Life, Georgia Institute of Technology

Watch the recorded talk.

More info

Catherine H Ross

Two Talk Special!

September 12, 2022 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Talk 1: Impact crater thermochronometry and the effects of shock microstructures

Cat Ross

Visiting Assistant Professor of Structural Geology

UT Jackson School of Geosciences

Evan+carnahan

Talk 2: Role of impact brines in Europa’s habitability

Evan Carnahan

Graduate Student

Texas Electrical and Computer Engineering, UT Austin

Watch the recorded talk.

More info

Kirk Scanlan Westernalbamons Positivepowerdifferential Maps
May 9, 2022 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Mapping Buried Martian Lava Tubes through Orbital Radar Sounding

Kirk Scanlan

Postdoctoral Researcher

National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark

Watch the recorded talk.

View event

Hesse figure
April 25, 2022 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Downward oxidant transport through Europa’s ice shell by density-driven brine percolation

Marc Hesse

Associate Professor

Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin

To join the seminar online contact David Goldstein.

Watch the recorded talk.

View event

Graphic showing various space scenes through different designs
March 21, 2022 1:00pm – 2:00pm

NASA’s next Great Observatory: a large, UV/Optical/Near-IR telescope capable of characterizing nearby habitable worlds

Scott Gaudi

Thomas Jefferson Professor for Discovery and Space Exploration

Department of Astronomy

Ohio State University

To join the seminar online contact David Goldstein.

Watch the recorded talk.

View event

Figure for talk
February 28, 2022 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Landscape evolution and the early Mars hydroclimate: constraints from paleolake and valley morphologies

Gaia Stucky de Quay

Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Fellow

Harvard University

Watch the recorded talk.

Read the abstract

Picture shows a lightning bolt from a thunderstorm. In the inset shows a model setup in a plasma tube showing with the gas and liquid phases labelled and a line near the bottom showing the interface.
February 14, 2022 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Beyond Miller–Urey: Pathways to Life in Prebiotically Relevant Environments using Plasmas

Thomas C. Underwood

Assistant Professor

UT Austin, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics

Watch the recorded talk.

Read the abstract

Picture of Kennda Lynch in a desert environment
January 24, 2022 1:00pm – 2:00pm

What Lies Beneath: The Importance of Groundwater Influenced Subsurface Habitats in the Search for Life on Mars

Kennda Lynch

Staff Scientist

Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI)
Universities Space Research Association

Talk not recorded.

Wittenmyer Seminar Image
November 22, 2021 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Mass measurements and rescue of planets using a fully dedicated Australian observatory

Rob Wittenmyer, Professor
(MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array
) MINERVA-Australis Observatory
University of Southern Queensland, Australia

Watch the recorded talk.

Read the abstract

John Lassiter
November 8, 2021 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Three billion years of seawater evolution – How continental growth, weathering, climate swings, and the colonization of land have impacted seawater composition, and what this tells us about Earth’s homeostasis

John Lassiter, Professor
Department of Geological Sciences
Jackson School of Geosciences
University of Texas at Austin

Watch the recorded talk.

Lander Seminar
October 18, 2021 1:00pm – 2:00pm

The Value of Building a Texas Astrobiology Community

Charity Phillips-Lander

Senior Research Scientist, Astrobiology
Space Science and Engineering Division
Southwest Research Institute

Talk not recorded.

Coverimg Aom Apr20 V1 1
September 27, 2021 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Ultrasensitive Detection of Trace Chiral Prebiotic Molecules

Zilong Wu, Postdoctoral Fellow
Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering
Cockrell School of Engineering
University of Texas at Austin

Watch the recorded talk (requires UT Zoom).

Read the abstract

Lin Seminar With Title
September 13, 2021 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Energy Sources Powering the Geodynamo

Jung-Fu “Afu” Lin, Professor
Department of Geological Sciences
Jackson School of Geosciences
University of Texas at Austin

Watch the recorded talk (requires UT Zoom).


Habitability Seminar Archive