Ariel Waldman

About the Author

Ariel Waldman creates imaginative projects that explore the world below our feet and beyond our atmosphere. She is the author of What’s It Like in Space?: Stories from Astronauts Who’ve Been There and hosted and produced the show Offworld, which explored all things space exploration and pop culture. As an Antarctic explorer, Ariel embarks on expeditions to film life under the ice, which became the subject of her TED Talk. She is a National Geographic Explorer and a consultant to the Science & Entertainment Exchange.
Previously, Ariel has served as the advisory chair to NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program and the co-author of a congressionally requested National Academy of Sciences’ report on the future of human spaceflight. An art school graduate who pivoted to science, she was recognized by the Obama White House as a Champion of Change in citizen science. When not in Antarctica, she lives in San Francisco.