Event Description:
The 2018 I.T. Littleton Seminar will feature Dr. Lucianne Walkowicz, the chair of astrobiology at the Library of Congress and an astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago.

In her talk, A Scientist Loose in America’s Library: Studying Astrobiology at the Library of Congress, Walkowicz will discuss her work as the Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology. The Blumberg Chair is a unique position, created to foster research at the intersection of astrobiology (the search for and study of life in the universe), and its implications for society. She will speak about the ethics of Mars exploration with a focus on equity and inclusion in the sciences, touching upon her research progress and some of the unique events and opportunities that working at the Library of Congress offers.

Walkowicz studies the ethics of Mars exploration, stellar magnetic activity, how stars influence a planet’s suitability as a host for alien life, and how to use advanced computing to discover unusual events in large astronomical data sets. She is the founding director of the new LSSTC Data Science Fellowship Program, an initiative to provide astronomy graduate students with training in advanced computing, and coordinates the community of science collaborations for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

The I.T. Littleton Seminar is presented by the NCSU Librarians’ Association. The annual event, funded by an endowment established in 1987 to explore key issues in the development of academic libraries and to honor former library director I.T. Littleton, is free and open to the public.

Admission Information:
Free and open to the public. Reception to follow at 3 p.m. in the Duke Energy Hall.

Event URL:
https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/node/51879

Contact Information:
Name: Mira Waller
Phone: 919-515-3855
Email: mpark@ncsu.edu

Location Information:
Hunt Library – Auditorium