Lucian Walkowicz
Lucian Walkowicz is an astronomer, movement artist, and educator exploring alien life, space ethics, and the futures we imagine together.
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Lucian’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus their backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
TED
TED
Haymarket BooksOverview
- Based in
- Chicago
- Work
- Astronomer, movement artist, and educator
- Education
- Johns Hopkins University; University of Washington
- Public platform
- TED talks on exoplanets and caring for Earth
- Current research
- Co-director for science, Discovery and Futures Lab at the SETI Institute
Mini bio
How it started.
Lucian’s route into astronomy began with research as a high-school student. A program organizer connected them with a New York University professor studying planetary atmospheres. As an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins, they tested detectors for a new Hubble Space Telescope camera.
Finding a public voice.
After earning a PhD at the University of Washington and holding fellowships at Berkeley and Princeton, Lucian joined Adler Planetarium in 2014. Their TED talks brought exoplanets and the relationship between space exploration and caring for Earth to a wider audience.
Building different futures.
During their 2017–2018 NASA/Library of Congress astrobiology chair, they convened conversations including Decolonizing Mars and Becoming Interplanetary. They co-founded the JustSpace Alliance in 2018 and now co-direct the Discovery and Futures Lab’s science work.
Art in motion.
Movement is another part of Lucian’s creative life. They began aerial classes in 2015 and graduated from Aloft Circus Arts’ professional training program in 2024. They also teach the Search for Life in the Universe at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Creditschronological, newest first
Talks and conversations
- 2026What will our reaction be when we discover aliens?Science Friday guest with Chelsea Haramia
- 2025Reclaiming the Future: Outer Space as a Site of Organizing and ImaginationFeatured speaker with Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
- 2015Let’s not use Mars as a backup planetTED speaker
- 2011Finding planets around other starsTED speaker
Research and education
- 2026Discovery and Futures LabCo-director, science
- 2018JustSpace AllianceCo-founder
- 2017–2018Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in AstrobiologyFifth chairholder
- 2015LSSTC Data Science Fellowship ProgramFounder
Awards
Quotes
discoveries of anything aren't single moments. They're processes.Lucian Walkowicz, JustSpace Alliance Q&A
Explaining why the Discovery and Futures Lab studies the extended, uncertain process of finding life beyond Earth.
Trivia
- Asteroid 205599 Walkowicz honors their contributions to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
- They started with aerial silks before taking up lyra, the aerial hoop.
- Their doctoral work focused on model atmospheres for M dwarfs.
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