User:Lilitharpa/sandbox

The Normposium is an academic research symposium on nucleic acid chemistry and molecular evolution, that was made possible through support provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Agouron Institute. Many achievements in being able to better understand ourselves and our environments trace back to contributions that originated and have since stemmed from the Pace Lab. Dr. Norm Pace, after whom the Normposium is named, is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and recognized as a MacArthur Fellow.

Background
The contributions to science of Dr. Norman R. Pace and the many members of his laboratory have been focused on the biochemistry of RNaseP, a unique ribozyme that catalyzes the maturation of tRNA , and "The Search for Life" in all three domains, to better understand life on Earth, have greatly expanded what is know about both areas of science. Without the early techniques developed in the Pace Lab for the sequencing and constructing phylogenetic trees based upon ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, little would be known of "The Big Tree," a map of how we understand the organization of life forms. With next-generation DNA sequencing technology and larger, whole microbiome projects, we can better understand the kinds of life and types of life that that comprise both humans and the environment, as well as the interrelationships of life-types.

History
The first Normposium, held at the Colorado School of Mines, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Coolbaugh Hall, in Golden, Colorado, ran from 4–5 June 2015. The symposium was a notable meeting of minds, resulting in such synergy among attendees, that it was decided that a tradition of followup Normposiums should be established, in which scientists will continue to discuss essential issues and discoveries in the fields of nucleic acid chemistry and molecular evolution. The initial Normposium included some of the world's foremost experts these areas. Presenters included:

 Dr. Norman R. Pace  Dr. Scott Dawson, University of California, Davis  Dr. Laura Baumgartner, Front Range Community College  Dr. Alex Burgin, Broad Institute  Dr. Daniel Frank, University of Colorado, Denver  Dr. Amy Buck, Edinburgh University  Dr. Gary Olsen, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign  Dr. Tom Schmidt, University of Michigan </li> <li>Dr. Anna-Louise Reysenbach, Portland State University </li> <li>Dr. Mitchell Sogin, Marine Biological Laboratory </li> <li>Dr. John Spear, Colorado School of Mines </li> </ul> </ul>