James Kasting

James Fraser Kasting (born January 2, 1953) is an American geoscientist and Distinguished Professor at Penn State University. Kasting was educated at Harvard University and the University of Michigan, where he received his Ph.D. in atmospheric science in 1979.

Kasting has published dozens of reviews and papers, covering the geophysical history and status of the Earth, with a focus on atmospherics. He has also considered the habitability criteria of other stellar systems and planets and is broadly considered the world leader in the field of planetary habitability. In their popular 2001 work Rare Earth, Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee note: "Although many scientists have been doggedly pursuing the various attributes necessary for a habitable planet...one name stands out in the scientific literature: James Kasting" (pg. 266). A 1993 paper on habitable zones was particularly decisive in shaping thinking on this field.

Kasting is also a member of numerous professional scientific societies and committees. He was elected Fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Geochemical Society in 2008. He has served NASA in various capacities, including as a member of the scientific working group for the Terrestrial Planet Finder, and as a civil servant for most of the 1980s.

Kasting currently teaches a variety of Geoscience courses at Penn State. He is married with three children.

Also see

• Earth system science

References

• "James Kasting". Department of Geosciences. Penn State University. Retrieved 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
• "NASA Astrobiology Institute".
• Earth System, The (3rd Edition) with co-authors Lee R. Kump and Robert G. Crane (ISBN 978-0321597793)

External links

• Talk of James Kasting at the Origins 2011 congress