The Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Program is hosting its next distinguished lecture featuring Professor Karen Lloyd of the Earth Sciences Department and Professor Corinne Packard of the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Department!

Presentations will run from 2:30 – 4:00 PM, followed by a reception with light refreshments at 4:00 PM. This event is open to all members of the USC community.

To register your attendance, please visit: https://forms.gle/FfQj3XDgiWJn88Cn9

Speaker: Karen Lloyd

Talk Title: Aeonophiles: Seeking the Oldest Living Cells on Earth

Abstract: In the past few decades, DNA sequencing from Earth’s subsurface has revealed the presence of deep branches on the tree of life that had never been seen before. Many of these novel phyla are common in deep subsurface environments, which are very stable and have poor food and nutrient resources. This means it is most likely that the vast majority of these cells are in states where they are metabolically active yet non-growing for thousands of years or longer. To determine whether cells can live for this long, we examined cells from these groups in 120,000 year old permafrost. We found that they have intact genomes, and maintain chirality of their amino acids, but they have not evolved away from their closest relatives over this time into separate permafrost-specific clades. This suggests that these cells have maintained themselves in the liquid brine veins in the permafrost. We suggest the name aeonophiles, to describe organisms that make use of very long time periods as an evolutionary strategy.

Speaker: Corinne Packard

Talk Title: Mechanics-Driven Design of Ceramics for Aerospace and Microelectronics

Abstract: Ceramics are foundational for advanced technology development in microelectronics, energy, and aerospace; however, the features responsible for these materials’ unique functional properties and resistance to extreme environments also increase material susceptibility to failure. The Packard Research Group conducts materials science research to improve the processing, performance, and reliability of ceramics and semiconductors by leveraging a unique focus on the mechanical deformation behavior of these brittle materials. Our research approach centers experimentation, revealing nanoscale deformation behavior through characterization and manipulating it through materials processing, leading to failure control at the macroscale. The materials and problems we work on are relevant to aerospace and electronics, including applications in gas turbines, high temperature applications, satellites, high efficiency solar cells, optics, and flexible electronics.