NEWS

UNC professor to discuss search for extraterrestrial intelligence

By LANITA WITHERS
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- "The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" will be the title of a speech in North Wilkesboro Nov. 14 by Dr. Wayne Christiansen, director of the Morehead Observatory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The free public talk will be at 6:30 p.m. in the Wilkes County Public Library at 215 10^th St. Call (336) 838-2818 for more information.

A physics and astronomy professor at UNC, Christiansen oversees use of the large telescope atop the Morehead Building. He also is involved with the Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Research (SOAR), a state-of-the-art telescope in Chile’s Andes Mountains built by Carolina and other institutions.

In 1996, Christiansen received the first John Lassister Sanders Award for Distinguished undergraduate teaching and service at UNC. He directed the Divison of Basic and Applied science at UNC from 1998-2001 and has studied the evolution of quasars and radio galaxies.

He looks skyward because "once you experience the exhilariation of peeling back even a couple of layers of reality, of understanding creation at a deeper level, it becomes addictive. I can imagine careers that would offer me more money, but I’ll pay a certain price for that feeling."

The lecture was arranged by Carolina Speakers at UNC. The outreach program brings more than 90 faculty members to business, civic and community groups across the state. The speakers share their expertise on more than 150 topics, including 46 that focus on North Carolina and the South. For more information or to schedule a Carolina Speaker, contact Sandy Roberts at 919-962-1993 or sandy_roberts@unc.edu, or visit the Carolina Speakers Web site at www.unc.edu/depts/uncspeak.

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(Withers is a senior journalism and mass communication major from Reidsville.)

Contact: Sandy Roberts, 919-962-1993, sandy_roberts@unc.edu