Biography:Ariel Waldman

From HandWiki
Short description: Science communicator
Ariel Waldman
Ariel Waldman in Antarctica.png
Ariel Waldman on top of Canada Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica
Educationgraphic designer[1]
OccupationAuthor, Antarctic explorer, science communicator
Known forScience Hack Day[1]
Notable work
  • What’s It Like in Space?[2][3]
  • Life Under The Ice[4]
Websitearielwaldman.com

Ariel Waldman is an explorer, creator and writer[5] 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."[6]

Waldman is the global director of Science Hack Day, 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's Innovative Advanced Concepts program, which provides grants to develop innovative ideas in aerospace that could transform future NASA missions.[7] She co-authored "Pathways to Exploration," a 2014 report from the National Academies on the future of human spaceflight.[8]

In 2018, she traveled to Antarctica for five weeks as a principal investigator with the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists and Writers program.[9] 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, "The Invisible Life Hidden Beneath Antarctica's Ice".

In 2013, Waldman received an honor from the Obama White House for being a Champion of Change in citizen science, "for her dedication to increasing public engagement in science and science literacy."[10] She is a graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

Books

  • What's It Like in Space? Stories from Astronauts Who've Been There. ISBN:9781452144764 (April 2016), including illustrations by Brian Standeford.
  • Out There ISBN:9780762481675 (August 2023), with foreword by Mae Jemison.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Signe Brewster (2013-08-28). "What to expect at the 2013 San Francisco Science Hack Day". GigaOM. https://gigaom.com/2013/08/28/what-to-expect-at-the-2013-san-francisco-science-hack-day/. 
  2. Jan Gardner (2016-04-29). "'What's It Like in Space?' by Ariel Waldman". Boston Globe. https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2016/04/30/capsule-review-what-like-space-stories-from-astronauts-who-been-there-ariel-waldman/Tw7GyqQxHVJznOAz74y6HP/story.html. 
  3. Arik Gabbai (April 2016). "What's It Like in Space? Ariel Waldman Has the Answers". Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/whats-like-space-ariel-waldman-180958498/. 
  4. Jessica Leigh Hester (2020-01-17). "If You Look Very, Very Close, Antarctica Is Teeming With Life". Atlas Obscura. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-lives-in-antarctica. 
  5. Waldman, Ariel (5 April 2016). What's it like in space? : stories from astronauts who've been there. Standeford, Brian. San Francisco. ISBN 978-1-4521-4476-4. OCLC 910424290. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/910424290. 
  6. "Spacehack.org". https://spacehack.org/about/. 
  7. Hall, Loura (2015-04-14). "NIAC External Council (NEC)". http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/nec_bios_all.html. 
  8. National Research Council (2014-06-04) (in en). Pathways to Exploration: Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration. National Academies Press. ISBN 978-0-309-30507-5. https://www.nap.edu/catalog/18801/pathways-to-exploration-rationales-and-approaches-for-a-us-program. 
  9. "NSF Award Search: Award#1745408 - Life Under the Ice". https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1745408&HistoricalAwards=false. 
  10. "Hacking Science and Space Exploration" (in en). 2013-06-25. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/06/25/hacking-science-and-space-exploration. 

External links

  • Her website: [1]
  • Her TEDx talk, "How Anyone Can Be A Space Explorer": [2]
  • Her TED talk, "The Invisible Life Hidden Beneath Antarctica's Ice": [3]
  • Her StarTalk radio interview with Bill Nye: [4]