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Nineteenth Annual Darwin College Lecture Series 2004

EVIDENCE

Lecture 6   :   February 20th 2004

Evidence for Catastrophes in The Evolution of Earth and Life

Vincent Courtillot

Institut de Physique du Globe and University Paris

Biography  |   Abstract |   Printable Version

Biography

Vincent Courtillot is a professor of geophysics at Institut de Physique du Globe and University Paris 7 (Denis-Diderot), and has taught at Stanford, UC Santa Barbara and Caltech. He holds degrees from the Paris School of Mines, Stanford University, University of Paris 6 (Pierre et Marie Curie) and University of Paris 7 (Denis-Diderot). His research has focused on the Earth's magnetic field, both past and present (geomagnetism and paleomagnetism) and on plate tectonics and Earth geodynamics, about which he has published over 150 papers. In 1999, he published a book entitled Catastrophes in Earth's History : the science of mass extinction (Cambridge University Press). Vincent Courtillot is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and of the Royal Astronomical Society and a member of Academia Europaea and the French Academy of Sciences. He has received a number of awards from CNRS (Silver Medal) and the French Academy of Sciences (Gay and Dolomieu prizes). He is past president of the European Union of Geosciences and has been in charge of overseeing French research organizations, research funding and graduate studies in French universities, in various capacities as director or special advisor of the Ministries in charge of Education, Research and Technology (in 1988-93 and 1997-2001). He currently chairs the scientific council of the City of Paris.

The lectures are given at 5.30 p.m. in The Lady Mitchell Hall, Sidgwick Avenue, with an adjacent overflow theatre with live TV coverage. Each lecture is typically attended by 600 people so you must arrive early to ensure a place.