ABSTRACT

All life on Earth is based on electron transfer reactions far from thermodynamic equilibrium. In this talk, I argue that photogeochemical reactions of minerals were transformational in the origins and persistence of biologically catalyzed electron transfer reactions in the early history of this planet. I will examine how these reactions came to be incorporated into the “nanomachines” that drive all the major biological processes of life as we know it. The talk will examine the emergent properties of life as it transformed the gas composition of Earth and the feedbacks that allowed life to persist for over 3.5 billion years.

About the Speaker:

Professor Paul Falkowski’s scientific interests include evolution of the Earth systems, paleoecology, photosynthesis, biophysics, biogeochemical cycles, and symbiosis. Professor Falkowski earned his B.S. and M.Sc. degrees from the City College of the City University of New York and his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. After a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Rhode Island, he joined Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1976 as a scientist in the newly formed Oceanographic Sciences Division. He served as head of the division from 1986 to 1991 and deputy chair in the Department of Applied Science from 1991-1995, responsible for the development and oversight of all environmental science programs. In 1996, he was appointed as the Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor at the University of British Columbia. He moved to Rutgers University in 1998. He received a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1992; the Huntsman Medal in 1998; the Hutchinson Prize in 2000; the Vernadsky medal from the European Geosciences Union in 2007, the Ecology Institute Prize in 2010 and the Albert 1st Medal in 2011. In 2001, he was elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union; in 2002, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; in 2007, he was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences; and in 2008, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.