| Sunday 21 February |
| 5:30-6:00pm |
Conference Opening |
| Sunday Evening Session |
THE EARLY EARTH |
| 7:30-7:40pm |
INTRODUCTION
John Grotzinger (Discussion Leader)
Department of Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA |
| 7:40-8:15pm |
EARLY EARTH EVOLUTION
Samuel A. Bowring
Department of Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA |
| 8:15-8:35pm |
Discussion |
| 8:35-9:10pm |
GEOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS ON ARCHEAN SURFACE ENVIRONMENTS
Paul F. Hoffman
Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA |
| 9:10-9:30pm |
Discussion |
| Monday 22 February |
| Monday Morning Session |
THE EARLY ENVIRONMENT -- OXYGEN IN THE
EARLY ATMOSPHERE |
| 8:40-9:00am |
Group photo |
| 9:00-9:10am |
INTRODUCTION
Heinrich D. Holland (Discussion Leader)
Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA |
| 9:10-9:50am |
THE RISE OF ATMOSPHERIC O2: CONSTRAINTS IMPOSED
BY BANDED IRON-FORMATIONS AND CARBON ISOTOPES
James A. Kasting
Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, USA |
| 9:50-10:10am |
Discussion |
| 10:10-10:30am |
Break |
| 10:30-11:10am |
THE NITROGEN ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION OF PRECAMBRIAN CHERTS AND THE TIMING OF THE RISE OF OXYGENIC PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Valerie Beaumont
Laboratoire de Minéralogie, Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France |
| 11:10-11:30am |
Discussion |
| 11:30am-12:10pm |
PALEOSOLS, ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY, AND TERRESTRIAL BIOLOGY (?!) IN THE ARCHEAN AND
PALEOPROTEROZOIC
Robert Rye
Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA |
| 12:10-12:30pm |
Discussion |
| 4:30-6:00pm |
Monday Afternoon Poster Session
Antonio Lazcano(Conference Vice-Chair , Organizer) |
| Monday Evening Session |
LOW-LATITUDE PRECAMBRIAN GLACIATIONS
-- A SNOWBALL EARTH? |
| 7:30-7:35pm |
INTRODUCTION
James Kasting (Discussion Leader)
Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, USA |
| 7:35-8:00pm |
THE PALEOPROTEROZOIC SNOWBALL EARTH: DEPOSITION OF THE KALAHARI MANGANESE FIELD AND THE EVOLUTION OF EUKARYOTES
Joseph Kirschvink
Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, USA |
| 8:00-8:15pm |
Discussion |
| 8:15-8:40pm |
A NEOPROTEROZOIC SNOWBALL EARTH
Paul F. Hoffman
Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA |
| 8:40-8:55pm |
Discussion |
| 8:55-9:20pm |
BIOLOGY AND NEOPROTEROZOIC ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
Andrew H. Knoll
Department of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA |
| 9:20-9:35pm |
Discussion |
| Tuesday 23 February |
| Tuesday Morning Session |
THE EARLY FOSSIL RECORD AND THE ORIGIN
OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS |
| 9:00-9:10am |
INTRODUCTION
Roger Buick (Discussion Leader)
School of Geosciences, The University of Sydney, Australia |
| 9:10-9:50am |
THE EVOLUTION OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND THE TRANSITION FROM AN ANAEROBIC TO AN AEROBIC WORLD
Robert E. Blankenship
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Arizona State University, USA |
| 9:50-10:10am |
Discussion |
| 10:10-10:30am |
Break |
| 10:30-11:10am |
MORPHOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL EVIDENCE FOR POSSIBLE MICROBIAL OXYGENIC PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN EARLY ARCHEAN CHERTS FROM THE BARBERTON GREENSTONE BELT, SOUTH AFRICA
Frances Westall
NASA - Johnson Spacecraft Center, Moffett Field, California, USA |
| 11:10-11:30am |
Discussion |
| 11:30am-12:10pm |
ORIGIN OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS: WHAT DO ARCHEAN STROMATOLITES TELL US, IF ANYTHING?
Malcolm R. Walter
School of Earth Sciences, Macquarie University, New South Wales, Australia |
| 12:10-12:30pm |
Discussion |
| 4:30-6:00pm |
Tuesday Afternoon Poster Session
Antonio Lazcano (Conference Vice-Chair , Organizer)
|
| Tuesday Evening Session |
THE EARLY BIOCHEMICAL RECORD |
| 7:30-7:50pm |
INTRODUCTION
David DesMarais (Discussion Leader)
NASA - Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA |
| 7:50-8:20pm |
ORGANISMAL PROPERTIES AND MECHANISMS OF EVOLUTION: UNSCRAMBLING THE MOLECULAR RECORD
J. Peter Gogarten
Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, USA |
| 8:20-8:40pm |
Discussion |
| 8:40-9:10pm |
MOLECULAR AND FOSSIL RECORD OF CARBON CYCLING
Bruce N. Runnegar
Department of Earth & Space Sciences, and IGPP Center for Astrobiology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA |
| 9:10-9:30pm |
Discussion |
| Wednesday 24 February |
| Wednesday Morning Session |
THE HYPER-HOT ORIGIN OF LIFE |
| 9:00-9:10am |
INTRODUCTION
Mitchell L. Sogin (Discussion Leader)
Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology & Evolution, The Marine Biological Laboratory
Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA |
| 9:10-9:50am |
GEOCHEMICAL ORIGINS OF AUTOTROPHIC METABOLISM
Everett L. Shock
Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA |
| 9:50-10:10am |
Discussion |
| 10:10-10:30am |
Break |
| 10:30-11:10am |
TEMPERATURE AND THE EVOLUTION OF ARCHAEAL GENOMES
Gary J. Olsen
Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA |
| 11:10-11:30am |
Discussion |
| 11:30am-12:10pm |
UPPER TEMPERATURE BORDER OF MICROORGANISMS IN THE HISTORY OF LIFE
Karl O. Stetter
Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie, Universität Regensburg, Germany |
| 12:10-12:30pm |
Discussion |
| 4:30-6:00pm |
Wednesday Afternoon Poster Session
Antonio Lazcano (Conference Vice-Chair, Organizer) |
| Wednesday Evening Session |
SEARCH FOR THE IDENTITY OF THE LAST
COMMON ANCESTOR |
| 7:30-7:50pm |
INTRODUCTION
Antonio Lazcano (Discussion Leader)
Faculty of Science, Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City |
| 7:50-8:20pm |
EUKARYOTES AND PROKARYOTES
W. Ford Doolittle
Department of Biochemistry, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| 8:20-8:40pm |
Discussion |
| 8:40-9:10pm |
UNIVERSAL PROTEIN FAMILIES AND THE FUNCTIONAL CONTENT OF THE LAST UNIVERSAL COMMON ANCESTOR
Nikos Kyrpides
Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA |
| 9:10-9:30pm |
Discussion |
| Thursday 25 February |
| Thursday Morning Session |
A POT POURRI ON LIFE'S ORIGIN |
| 9:00-9:10am |
INTRODUCTION
James P. Ferris (Discussion Leader)
Department of Chemistry, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, USA |
| 9:10-9:50am |
DIRECT OBSERVATION OF THE SELF ASSEMBLY OF POTENTIALLY PREBIOTIC PURINE MOLECULES ON MINERAL SURFACES BY SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPY
Wolfgang Heckl
Institut für Kristallographie und Angewandte Mineralogie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany
and
Stephen J. Sowerby
Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand |
| 9:50-10:10am |
Discussion |
| 10:10-10:30am |
Break |
| 10:30-11:10am |
PREBIOTIC SYNTHESIS OF NUCLEOSIDES AND NUCLEOTIDES
Leslie Orgel
Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA |
| 11:10-11:30am |
Discussion |
| 11:30am-12:10pm |
MINERALS AS CATALYSTS OF REDOX REACTIONS ON A PREBIOTIC EARTH
Martin Schoonen
Department of Geosciences, SUNY Stony Brook, New York, USA |
| 12:10-12:30pm |
Discussion |
| 5:15-6:00pm |
Thursday Afternoon Business Session: Future of the GRC on the Origin of Life;
election of next Vice-Chair
J. William Schopf, Chair
Antonio Lazcano, Vice-Chair |
| Thursday Evening Session |
THE HUNT FOR LIFE ON MARS: AN
ABBREVIATED UPDATE |
| 7:30-7:50pm |
INTRODUCTION
Bruce Jakosky, Chair
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, USA |
| 7:50-8:20pm |
SEEKING PROOF OF THE PRESENCE OF LIFE ON MARS: A PERSPECTIVE FROM THE EARLY EARTH
Malcolm R. Walter
School of Earth Sciences, Macquarie University, New South Wales, Australia |
| 8:20-8:40pm |
Discussion |
| 8:40-9:10pm |
SEARCHING FOR LIFE ON MARS: DREAMS AND REALITIES
Kenneth Nealson
NASA - Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA |
| 9:10-9:30pm |
Discussion |
| 9:30-9:40pm |
Conference evaluation |
| Friday 26 February |
Departure |
| Conference closed |
Depart after breakfast |
