Dr. Roger Wiens ’82 is a planetary scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Principal Investigator for the ChemCam instrument aboard the Mars Curiosity rover. Dr. Denise Stephens is an associate professor of Physics at Brigham Young University.

“Exoplanets and Life in the Universe” will be the topic of Wheaton’s Science Symposium for this spring, organized by the Physics and Engineering Department. The symposium takes place from 7 to 9:30 p.m. on March 27 and 28. On the evening of the 27th, Dr. Wiens will talk about the latest exploration of Mars and prospects for life there. This will be followed by Dr. Arend J. Poelarends, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Wheaton College, discussing the search for exoplanets and what has been found so far. On the evening of the 28th, Dr. Stephens will speak on exoplanet signatures for life and how we can detect such signatures. This will be followed by a panel discussion on the implications of discovering life elsewhere in the universe.

Along with our three speakers, the panel will include Rev. Dr. Emily H. McGowin, associate lecturer of theology, and Dr. Robert O’Connor, associate professor of philosophy, both at Wheaton College.