Charles Cockell – Life in the Universe

Will we find life elsewhere in the Universe and what are we really looking for? Why has this questions suddenly become more interesting?

Charles Cockell is Professor of Astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the UK Centre for Astrobiology. His academic interests are life in extreme environments and the habitability of extraterrestrial environments. He received his first degree in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Bristol and his PhD (DPhil) from the University of Oxford in molecular biology. He then undertook a National Research Council Associateship at the NASA Ames Research Centre in California before working at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge. He moved to the Open University to take up a Chair in Geomicrobiology in 2005. Popular science books include ‘Impossible Extinction’ (CUP), which explores the tenacity of microbes on the Earth, and ‘Space on Earth’ (Macmillan) which looks at the links between environmentalism and space exploration. He is also author of the undergraduate text book, ‘Astrobiology: Understanding Life in the Universe’ published by Wiley-Blackwell. He is first or co-author on over 250 papers. He is Chair of the Earth and Space Foundation, a non-profit organisation he established in 1994. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Find out more at www.astrobiology.ac.uk

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