The Gaston Lecture Series presents “Where Was God? Natural Disasters and Human Freedom,” a lecture to be given by Brother Guy Consolmagno, S.J., on Monday, March 6, at 7 p.m., in Roussel Hall.

A Detroit native, Consolmagno received both a bachelor of arts and a master of arts degree from MIT, and a doctorate in planetary science from the University of Arizona. He has worked at Harvard University, MIT, Lafayette College, and served in Kenya for the U.S. Peace Corps, all before entering the society of the Jesuits in 1989.

Consolmagno has worked at the Vatican Observatory since 1993 and his research explores connections between meteorites, asteroids, and the evolution of small solar system bodies. He has authored numerous books, including Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope--and How to Find Them (which he co-authored with Dan Davis), The Way to the Dwelling of Light, and Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist. Consolmagno spent six weeks collecting meteorites with a team on the blue ice regions of East Antarctica. He has served on the governing boards of the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences and the Meteoritical Society, and in 2003, he was elected president of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Commission 16. In 2000, an asteroid was named 4597 Consolmagno, in honor of his work and dedication.