Upcoming Webinars  

The Society for Cryobiology is pleased to present free webinars throughout the year on a wide variety of cryobiology topics. 

If you are interested in being added to the pool of potential speakers please contact [email protected] with a brief biography and summary of your presentation proposal. Please note application does not guarantee your presentation as all proposals are assessed by the webinar committee. 


CRYOBIOLOGY & CRYOPRESERVATION IN OUTER SPACE
14 NOVEMBER 2024

8 AM US/Pacific | 11 AM US/Eastern | 5 PM Central Europe | 8 PM Gulf Standard | 12 AM China Standard (next day)

REGISTER NOW

Chair: Dr. Fernanda Fonseca Université Paris-Saclay, France; SfC
Co-Chairs: Dr. Daniel Ballesteros Universitat de Valencia, Spain; SfC | Dr. Matthew Powell-Palm Texas A&M University, USA; SfC; ATP-Bio

  Dr. Anne M. Visscher Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom
RESEARCH GATE | AFFILIATION PROFILE

SEEDS IN SPACE AND THE POTENTIAL FOR PLANT CRYOBIOLOGY
Many useful plant species with potential for plant-based bioregenerative life support systems produce extremophile seeds with tolerance to multiple stressors, including desiccation, which allows for their transport through space in a dried state. However, other valuable species produce desiccation-sensitive seeds or are propagated clonally, and life sciences research in space has not yet addressed the challenge of alternative transport methods in microgravity for such material. This webinar will discuss ongoing and planned experiments using both desiccation tolerant and sensitive seeds in space. For example, I will briefly cover the context and potential for plant cryobiology on the International Space Station and on the Moon (e.g. proposed lunar biorepositories).

BIOGRAPHY
Through my research I aim to understand seed traits involved in seed survival of (extreme) environmental conditions (both natural and ex situ) on Earth and in space. I am currently a Research Fellow in the Global Tree Seed Bank Programme funded by the Garfield Weston Foundation. In addition, I am leading several research projects selected by the European Space Agency for spaceflight inside and outside the International Space Station.

  Dr. Jekan Thanga University of Arizona
LINKEDIN | RESEARCH GATE | X

THE LUNAR ARK: SAVING EARTH'S BIODIVERSITY FROM A FUTURE CATASTROPHE 
Earth is undergoing significant changes, resulting in the loss of whole ecosystems, including critical food supply, which could spell trouble for human civilization.  Yet advances in cryogenics could be used to freeze cells from endangered plants and animals with the chance of preserving them for centuries.  Storing them on Earth poses logistics challenges due to at least seven possible catastrophes.  However, lava tubes on the Moon, which are only four days away from Earth have remained pristine for 3-4 billion years.  Using cryogenics, we propose a Lunar Ark that would store 90% of Earth's biodiversity inside a lunar lava tube.  

BIOGRAPHY
Jekan Thanga has been working in the aerospace field for the past 25 years. He worked on Canadarm, Canadarm 2, and the DARPA Orbital Express missions at MDA.  Jekan obtained his Ph.D. in space robotics at the University of Toronto and did his postdoc at MIT.  Jekan Thanga is an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona and heads the Space and Terrestrial Robotic Exploration (SpaceTREx) Laboratory.   He has co-authored more than 225 technical publications.

  Dr. Mark Fox-Powell The Open University
AFFILIATION PROFILE | X

CRYOGENIC BRINES AT THE ICY OCEAN WORLDS
Several icy worlds in the outer Solar System contain potentially habitable liquid water oceans beneath thick outer layers of ice. The detection of salts at their surfaces indicates that ocean-surface exchange must take place. I will present results of thermodynamic modelling and laboratory experiments exploring the evolution and fate of ocean-derived brines within the ice ‘shells’ of these worlds. Our work highlights the possible distribution of habitable environments at shallow depths within icy worlds and identifies compositional signatures that missions such as NASA’s Europa Clipper and ESA’s JUICE could exploit to seek regions of recent brine delivery to the surface. 

BIOGRAPHY
I completed a PhD in astrobiology from the University of Edinburgh and worked as a postdoc at the University of St Andrews. I have been at the Open University since 2020, where I lead the icy worlds research team. Work in my team involves laboratory experiments and fieldwork in Earth's cryosphere to understand how subsurface waters and evidence of life might become delivered to and preserved at the surfaces of our Solar System’s icy worlds.

  Dr. Stewart Gault University of Edinburgh 
LINKEDIN | RESEARCH GATE | X | PERSONAL WEBSITE

INTRACELLULAR VITRIFICATION AND THE LOW TEMPERATURE LIMIT FOR LIFE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ASTROBIOLOGY
It is currently believed that the low temperature limit for life is enforced by the onset of intracellular vitrification at ~-23°C. However, the solar system is an incredibly cold place, with many aqueous environments on other planetary bodies theorized to exhibit deep subzero temperatures. This would suggest that any life in such environments would be vitrified or frozen instead of being biochemically active. In this talk I will present results showing how abiotic factors such as ionic composition and pressure can depress the onset of intracellular vitrification, thereby potentially extending the low temperature limit for life.

BIOGRAPHY
I am an astrobiologist at the University of Edinburgh where my research focuses on understanding the fundamental limits to life in multi-extreme environments.