The Johnson GEO CENTRE Public Lecture Series is a program of free evening talks held once a month, designed to spark interest and curiosity in current general science topics.
The series runs from September to May each year, and features a variety of local and international speakers. Lectures are held in the Johnson GEO CENTRE Reception Hall.
List of Upcoming Lectures
On Monday, January 23rd at 7:30 pm, the Johnson GEO CENTRE will host the first of its 2012 Public Lectures: “Exploring the Asteroids: Cool Stuff You Can Do With Leftovers” by Dr. Douglas Forbes.
Doug Forbes has been a professor of Physics and Astronomy at the Grenfell Campus of Memorial University since 1989. He has had previous tenure at the University of Manitoba, Trent University, and Colby College. He received his Ph.D. in astronomy from University of Victoria, and his research interests are in observational astronomy, especially massive stars in young open clusters and their relation to star formation and evolution.
Asteroids are the ancient building blocks of the planets. They’ve had an extensive collision history, and fragments of these cosmic train wrecks make up most of the meteorites in our museum collections. We’ll talk about the latest results on the physical nature of asteroids – what would it be like to visit one? What can they tell us about the history of the solar system? And while the threat of asteroid impacts on Earth is well-known, we’ll close by looking at the enormous opportunity asteroids represent for everyone on Earth.
This February, the Johnson GEO CENTRE Public Lecture Series will shift its focus from Space towards Titanic: Lessons Learned in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of its demise.
We are pleased to launch this set of lectures with Ches Crosbie, Q.C who will present his talk, “Titanic and Injury Claims” on Tuesday, February 7th at 7:30pm.
If you build a boat, the boat must float… or must it? The band played on, but how did the lawsuit play out? And would civil justice be any kinder today, some 100 years after the largest man made moving object on earth grazed an iceberg south of Cape Race, sinking forever into the pages of myth and history? You be the judge… and jury!
Please call 737-7886 for more information.
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On Tuesday evening, March 6th 2012, the Johnson GEO CENTRE Public Lecture Series will feature ”Simulating a Sunday Night at Sea: Examining the Key Events in the Loss of the Titanic” with Captain Chris Hearn, Director of the Centre for Marine Simulation, Marine Institute of Memorial University.
The loss of the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage has developed into story with many layers. As time passes, more and more the accepted version of the events is a complication of fact, theory, and of course, dramatization. There still remain however, many questions about actions up to the collision and immediately after. Using its unique blend of marine operational expertise and world leading marine simulation capacity, the Centre for Marine Simulation (CMS), at the Marine Institute, has undertaken an examination of key events in the Loss of the Titanic. Join Captain Chris Hearn, Director of CMS as he looks to discuss what the Look Outs in the Crow’s Nest may have seen, how the avoiding actions of the Titanic suggest the iceberg may have been smaller than generally accepted, and where was the SS Californian in relation to the disaster.
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On Tuesday evening, April 3rd 2012, the Johnson GEO CENTRE Public Lecture Series will feature ”The Iceberg Cowboy – Wrangling Giants in the North Atlantic” with Captain Ed Kean. Come and share in the adventure as Captain Kean talks about his experiences as an iceberg harvester. Doors open at 7:00pm, and the lecture begins at 7:30pm.
Please call 737-7886 for more information.
