Professor Bruce Balick and Mass Extinctions on Earth

Back for another in-person visit, Bruce Balick, professor emeritus of astronomy at the University of Washington, is going to speak about mass extinction events in the past billion years. He will review what happened in previous extinctions, including asteroid impacts and volcanic eruptions, how these events caused the extinction of a vast percentage of life on earth, and what can be expected in our future. Asteroids and dinosaurs, oh my! We love science!

Professor Balickis best known for the discovery of the black hole at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way, and helped design the James Webb Space Telescope. He presently supervises students in research projects and leads the UW outreach program at the Theodor Jacobsen Observatory on the campus.