Extraterrestrial Contact: A List of Experts

It would be essential for humans to review the situation After First Contact with an extraterrestrial civilization and develop a framework for moving forward. This may not be a priority if First Contact comes from the discovery of a far-off signal. There would be plenty of time to consider what to do next. However, it would be important, and need immediate attention, in a high information First Contact scenario, where aliens visit our solar system. 

There is no one with expertise in such matters. Very few people have even considered the issue. What follows is a list of people who have considered First Contact and the implications. While there are many SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) researchers represented, the people on this list were chosen not only for their experience in SETI exploration, but also their consideration of the larger issues likely to become challenges After First Contact. These radio astronomers, astrophysicists, and astrobiologists have thought about First Contact and are among the best prepared to consider how to move forward. There is also an effort to include members of the social sciences, which may have the most important role After First Contact. Some of the largest space agencies are represented at the administrative level. They may have First Contact oriented experts within their ranks that should be added. The list also includes science fiction authors. Their ideas and imagination would be critical to developing a path forward After First Contact.

This is by no means intended to be a comprehensive list. I am most likely missing some important people. I did my best to search for international representatives and women. However, as I am sure the women can attest to, this has been a male dominated field for many years. The United States has the most active SETI research and thus is dominant in representation. The final tally in this list is 60 people total, 43 men, 17 women, 32 USA, and 28 international.

Frank Drake, Emeritus Professor, University of California at Santa Cruz

Jill Tarter, former director of the Center for SETI Research, SETI Institute board member

Paul Davies, Arizona State University, and SETI Post-Detection Taskgroup - International Academy of Astronautics

Dan Werthimer, Berkeley SETI

Andrew Siemion, Berkeley SETI

Bill Diamond, SETI Institute

Seth Shostak, SETI Institute

H. Paul Shuch, SETI League

Richard Factor, SETI League

Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

Claudio Maccone, Chair, International Academy of Astronautics Permanent SETI Committee

Michael Garrett, University of Manchester, Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, UK

Leonid Gurvits, JIVE, the Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC, The Netherlands

Douglas Vakoch, president of METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence)

Catharine Conley, NASA Planetary Protection Officer

Carol Oliver, Australian Centre for Astrobiology, University of New South Wales, Australia

Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, UK

Alan Penny, University of St. Andrews, Scotland, UK
Avi Loeb, Harvard University

L.M. Gindilis, Moscow State Forest University, Russia

M.Yu. Timofeev, SETI Science and Culture Center of the Tsiolkovsky Academy of Cosmonautics, Russia

Kathryn Denning, York University, Canada

V. Radhakrishnan, Raman Research Institute, India

Hisashi Hirabayashi, JAXA Space Education Center, Japan

Lori Walton, Tigerstar Geoscience Research, Canada

Sun Kwok, Dean of Science, University of Hong Kong, China

David Raitt, European Space Agency

Nathalie Cabrol, Carl Sagan Center

Lindy Elkins-Tanton, School of Earth & Space Exploration, Arizona State University

Iván Almár, Konkoly Observatory, Hungary

Bruce Jakosky, NASA Astrobiology Institute, University of Colorado at Boulder

Jim Bridenstine, Administrator, NASA

Dmitry Rogozin, Roscosmos State Corporation (Russian Space Agency)

Tang Dengjie, China National Space Administration

Johann-Dietrich Wörner, Director General, European Space Agency

Kailasavadivoo Sivan, Indian Space Research Organization

Guillermo A. Lemarchand, UNESCO Division of Science Policy and Capacity Building

Jim Pass, Journal of Astrosociology

Kathleen D. Toerpe, Journal of Astrosociology

Michael Varnum, Psychologist, Interplanetary Initiative, Arizona State University

Debra Fischer, Astronomer, Yale University

Shannon Lucid, Chief Scientist, NASA

Eugene L. Tu, Director of NASA Ames Research Center
Renee Kraan-Korteweg, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Elisabeth Piotelat, SETI League Regional Coordinator, France

Bill Nye, Planetary Society

Heidi Hammel, Planetary Society

Bijal (Bee) Thakore, Planetary Society

Nick Bostrom, Future of Humanity Institute
Anders Sandberg, Future of Humanity Institute 

Jann Tallinn, Future of Life Institute


Susan Schneider, University of Connecticut

Michael A.G. Michaud, Author

Jame Funaro, Anthropologist, Cabrillo College; board member, Cultures of the Imagination

Penny Boston, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology; board member, Cultures of the Imagination

Neil deGrasse Tyson, Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City

Michio Kaku, Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York

Yuri Milner, Breakthrough Initiatives

Cixin Liu, Science Fiction Author

Connie Willis, Science Fiction Author

Ted Chiang, Science Fiction Author

Groups:

International Academy of Astronautics

SETI Permanent Committee of the International Academy of Astronautics

International Astronomical Union

International Institute of Space Law

Committee on Space Research

Royal Society

SETI Institute

SETI League

SETI Science and Culture Center of the Tsiolkovsky Academy of Cosmonautics

SETI Section of the Astronomy Council, Russian Academy of Sciences

 

Photo by Denis Degioanni on Unsplash