A Conversation with Astrobiologist Dr. Nathalie Cabrol.

With more than 300 million exoplanets in the habitable zone of their stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, and up to 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe - to think we are alone or the only advanced intelligent civilization is pretty close to nonsense.

Dr. Nathalie Cabrol is a French American Astrobiologist specializing in planetary science. Cabrol studies ancient lakes on Mars, and undertakes high-altitude scientific expeditions in the Central Andes of Chile as the principal investigator of the "High Lakes Project" funded by the NASA Astrobiology Institute. There, with her team, she documents life's adaptation to extreme environments, the effect of rapid climate change on lake ecosystems and habitats, its geobiological signatures, and relevance to planetary exploration. Cabrol was appointed in 2015 to head the SETI Institute's Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe.

Should we mine the oceans for essential minerals to power green technology?

In our final episode of a three-part series, we explore the fascinating world of international regulations that affect the sea floor.

Governing approximately half of the total area of the world's oceans, the International Sea Bed Authority is, “to exercise oversight of activities that might threaten biological diversity and harm the marine environment”.

James McFarland, Executive Vice President of Strategic Robotic Systems and former head of the Office of Resource and Environmental Monitoring at the International Sea Bed Authority, will be our third guest and help us decipher if and how the ISA is managing to fulfill its mandates.

Should we mine the oceans for essential minerals to power green technology?

In our second interview of a three-part series is with Dr. Lisa Levin, a distinguished professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a marine ecologist who studies ecosystems in the deep sea and shallow water. We’ll ask her to tell us what current science is revealing on the sea floor in the CCZ, and what damage may result from Deep-Sea mining.