Speaker: Dr Patricia Sanchez-Baracaldo. Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow. Bristol University, Geographical Sciences.

Patricia studies the evolutionary history of Cyanobacteria – the microorganisms that made our planet habitable. Also known as blue-green algae, cyanobacteria transformed the Earth’s atmosphere 2,300 million year ago. They were the first photosynthetic organisms on the planet and, as a result, released large amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere.  As they colonised the oceans, they had a massive impact on global nutrient cycles enabling the evolution of complex life around 600 million years ago.

Questions that we’ll consider will include:
– When did photosynthesis first evolve?
– Why did it take so long for oxygen levels to reach modern levels and for complex life to appear?
– How did cyanobacteria contribute to making our planet habitable?

A bit more about Patricia:

Patricia Sanchez-Baracaldo obtained her biology degree from Los Andes University, Colombia.  She was awarded a fellowship to work at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.  She did her PhD in plant evolutionary biology in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, USA.  As a postdoc, Dr Sanchez-Baracaldo work on the molecular ecology of cyanobacteria at Bristol University.  She then had a career break to look after her young family and returned back to science with a Daphne Jackson and a Dorothy Hodgkin Royal Society fellowship.

Patricia’s Bristol University web page.

An exhibition by local artists and scientists that blurs the boundaries between science and art. Is is art? Is it science? Something else? This is your chance to contribute to the debate!

Opening times.

Friday 13th: 11.00am – 9.00pm. Private viewing at 6-9pm
Saturday 14th: 10.00am – 6pm
Sunday 15th: 10.00am – 6.00pm
Monday 16h: 11.00am – 7.30pm
Tuesday 17th: 11.00am – 7.30pm
Wednesday 18th: 11.00am – 7.30pm

More details and images coming shortly…