Public Programs

For the past five years, Drs. Bruce Damer and David Deamer have collaboratively searched for evidence of the origin of life. In this talk, they will discuss their shared research journey, taking them from the study of organic compounds over 5 billion years old, to Bumpass Hell, the largest hydrothermal area in Lassen National Park, the Pilbara of Western Australia, and, most recently, to Hell's Gate hot springs of New Zealand. They'll talk about what they discovered about protocells, fresh water hot springs, and early signs of life along the way.

Leonardo Art & Science Evening Rendezvous (LASER) is an international program bringing together artists, scientists, and scholars for presentations and conversations. LASER Talks are a program of the Leonardo International Society for Art, Science, and Technology (ISAST). Join us at 7 p.m. for presentations by writer Karen Tei Yamashita, geochemist and paleoecologist Paul Koch, anthropologist and curator Nidhi Mahajan, and bioinformatician David Haussler.

Stephanie Syjuco is renowned for her large-scale art installations that address contemporary social and economic issues, including political dissent and the legacy of colonialism. In works that range from photography, sculpture, and installation, and from handmade and craft-inspired mediums to digital editing, Syjuco's art practice challenges deep-seated assumptions about history, race, and labor.

Leonardo Art & Science Evening Rendezvous (LASER) is an international program of evening gatherings that bring artists, scientists, and scholars together for informal presentations and conversations. For this Best of LASER, the IAS has invited back crowd favorites from the last five years of events and will feature presentations by evolutionary (paleo) biologist Beth Shapiro, glaciologist Slawek Tulaczyk, director and filmmaker Jennifer Maytorena Taylor, and evolutionary marine biologist Rita Mehta.