SCIENCE COMMUNICATION RESEARCH FELLOWS PROGRAM
At the University of Chicago, I direct the Science Communication Research Fellows Program, where undergraduate students passionate about science communication can design and work on independent research projects. In the past, student projects have supported my work for the NASA Astrobiology Program and the SETI Institute on problems related to communicating about astrobiology, biosignature detection claims, and the search for life in the universe. Supported by funding from the Parrhesia Program for Public Thought and Discourse, we are expanding the scope of the program to include communication challenges in any area of STEM students are interested in working on.
The program began in 2022-2023 as a research assistantship funded by UChicago’s Institute on the Formation of Knowledge and the Space 3.0 Foundation’s One Small Step Grant and was previously known as SPACELAB and CAPCOM. In 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 it was funded by a pair of UChicago Quad Faculty Research grants.
Current Fellows (2026-2027):
Ellie Ryan
Pauline Singer
Jaden Choi
Elijah Tan
Past Fellows:
2025-2026: Marta Pantin, Ellie Ryan, Pauline Singer
2024-2025: Marta Pantin, Ellie Ryan
2023-2024: Nathalie Lai (CAPCOM)
2022-2023: Isabella Cisneros (SPACELAB)