#41 Dr. John Spear

From Mars to Europa: A Comparison of 82N 82W & 23N 58E

This talk focuses on research sites located at Canada’s Ellesmere Island and Muscat, Oman—locations that help scientists further research on far-flung locations like Jupiter’s moon Europa and planet Mars.
Borup Fiord Pass, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada is an amazing site and model for Europa. It also is a remarkable location for explaining, tracking and better understanding the effects of Climate Change, which is causing the disappearance of this site.

The area west of Muscat, Oman, provides a model site for better understanding the origin of life and how to find life on places like Mars. Research on the biogeochemistry of the subsurface is possible in this unique location, the only site of its kind on planet Earth.

Both of these projects are funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Dr. Spear’s work takes him to both of these sites.