Ariel Waldman is an explorer, creator and writer specializing in the intersection of science, space, technology and art. She describes herself as "on a mission to make science and space exploration disruptively accessible."
Waldman is the global director of
Science Hack Day
Science Hack Day is a hack day specifically for "making weird, silly or serious things with science". The first was organized by Jeremy Keith and held at the London offices of The Guardian newspaper over the weekend 19/20 June 2010.
The event w ...
, which organizes events worldwide to bring together people to make things using science. The idea sprang from a South by Southwest panel she organized in 2010 on how to make use of open data. She is also the founder of SpaceHack.org, a directory of ways for anyone to participate in space exploration.
Waldman chairs the external council for
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
's Innovative Advanced Concepts program, which provides grants to develop innovative ideas in aerospace that could transform future NASA missions. She co-authored "Pathways to Exploration," a 2014 report from the National Academies on the future of human spaceflight.
In 2018, she traveled to
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
for five weeks as a principal investigator with the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists and Writers program. She climbed glaciers and dived beneath the sea ice in order to photograph microbes living in extreme environments. The resulting project, Life Under the Ice, features microscopy photos of bacteria, diatoms, tardigrades and other Antarctic life forms, and was the topic of her 2020
TED Talk
TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
, "The Invisible Life Hidden Beneath Antarctica's Ice".
In 2013, Waldman received an honor from the
Obama White House
Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican n ...
for being a Champion of Change in citizen science, "for her dedication to increasing public engagement in science and science literacy."
She is a graduate of the
Art Institute of Pittsburgh
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh was a private college in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Shortly before closing in 2019, it was purchased by Dream Center Education Holdings (in turn a division of The Dream Center, a Christian non-profit 501(c)(3) org ...
.
Books
* ''What's It Like in Space? Stories from Astronauts Who've Been There.'' (April 2016), including illustrations by Brian Standeford.
* ''Out There'' (August 2023), with foreword by
Mae Jemison
Mae Carol Jemison (born October 17, 1956) is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. Je ...
.
References
External links
* Her website
* Her
TEDx talk
TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
, "How Anyone Can Be A Space Explorer"
* Her
TED talk
TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
, "The Invisible Life Hidden Beneath Antarctica's Ice"
* Her StarTalk radio interview with Bill Nye
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Living people
Space advocates
Science communicators
Year of birth missing (living people)