Life as No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's Emergence

Sara Imari Walker is Associate Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration, Deputy Director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, and Associate Director of the ASU-Santa Fe Institute Center for Biosocial Complex Systems at Arizona State University. Originally trained in theoretical physics and Cosmology at Dartmouth College, and tenured at ASU at thirty-five, she has emerged as a leading young intellectual in the pursuit of understanding life and finding it on other worlds. She has published research on topics as diverse as chemical evolution, foundations of quantum mechanics, major evolutionary transitions, cancer biology and exoplanet science, but her central focus continues to be solving the problem of what life is. She has published more than 40 peer-reviewed papers and raised over $6M in research funding, with her work funded by many respected institutions including NASA. She is co-founder of the astrobiology-themed social website SAGANet.org and is a member of the Board of Directors of Blue Marble Space. She regularly engages with the public at events including the World Science Festival, World Science Scholars, Phoenix Comicon, and on TV and podcasts such as Through the Wormhole and NPR’s Science Friday.