Skip to main content
  • April 24, 2008
  • Lisa Eikenburg

Darren Williams
quot;>Darren Williams.     
Penn State Behrend photo by John Fontecchio
Dr. Darren Williams, associate professor of Physics and Astronomy at Penn State, Behrend College, will be giving an illustrated public lecture, “Oceans of Water on Distant Earth-like Planets,”at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 29, in McEwen Hall Room 202 at SUNY Fredonia. 

The talk is designed for general audiences, and the public is invited to attend the free event.

Dr. Williams is the author/co-author of more than 10 research papers on the origin and evolution of habitable planets, and his research has been featured in Nature, National Geographic, Astronomy, Sky and Telescope, and Discover magazines. His talk will be followed (weather permitting) by a telescopic sky gazing session that will include views of the planets Saturn and Mars, and other heavenly objects.

Dr. Michael Grady, professor of physics at SUNY Fredonia noted, “Our Earth is basically a ‘waterworld’ unlike the other planets in our solar system. It stands to reason that similar water-planets would be the best places to look for life. Dr. Williams will talk about strategies to detect such planets around other stars, which will soon be possible.”

Dr. Williams' presentation has been organized by the departments of Physics, Geosciences, and Chemistry and Biochemistry, and is sponsored by the Phyllis and Lawrence Patrie Endowment for the Sciences of the Fredonia College Foundation.