Dr. Lisa Kaltenegger is an award-winning astrophysicist and astrobiologist, Founding Director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell, professor in Astronomy, public speaker, and author of Alien Earths: The Science for Planet Hunting in the Cosmos.
She is a pioneer and world-leading expert in modeling habitable worlds and their light fingerprint. She has spent the last decade finding new ways to spot life in the cosmos, working with NASA and ESA from Austria to the Netherlands, Harvard, Germany, and now Cornell.
Among her international awards are the Invited Discourse lecture at the IAU General Assembly in Hawaii, the Heinz Meier Leibnitz Prize for Physics of Germany, the Doppler Prize for Innovation in Science of Austria, and the Barry-Jones Inauguration Award of the Royal Astrobiology Society and Open University in Britain. Her 2017 review on How to Characterize Habitable Worlds and Signs of Life was selected by Annual Reviews as part a collection celebrating pioneering women scientists.
Smithsonian Magazine recognized Lisa Kaltenegger as one of America’s Young Innovators. TIME Magazine declared her an Innovator to Watch, and now she stars in the IMAX 3D movie The Search for Life in Space. Lisa Kaltenegger also has an Asteroid, 7734 Kaltenegger, named in her honor.
She speaks at events around the globe, including the Aspen Ideas Festival, TED Youth, World Science Festival, Falling Walls, and STARMUS. Lisa lives with her family in Upstate NY. When she is not trying to find life in the cosmos, she loves reading, traveling, cooking, dancing, and spending time with friends while drinking too much coffee and Earl Grey.
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 Alien Earths
The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos
St. Martin's Press
Riveting and timely, a look at the research that is transforming our understanding of the cosmos in the quest to discover whether we are alone.
For thousands of years, humans have wondered whether we're alone in the cosmos. Now, for the first time, we have the technology to investigate. But once you look for life elsewhere, you realize it is not so simple. How do you find it over cosmic distances? What actually is life?
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Top Ten Things About New Worlds on our Cosmic Horizon Since the first detection of a planet circling another star about 29 years ago, we have found another world on average every other day! This incredible rate of discovery has revealed some of the secrets of these new worlds - here are the top ten, from lonely wanderers in the cosmos to billions of possible worlds like ours.
Why We Live in a Golden Age of Space Exploration We live in a golden era of exploration. With more than 5,500 detected planets circling other stars, our view of the night sky is changing profoundly. We have started on a new epoch of exploration, and the worlds we have discovered so far are only the tip of the iceberg of what is to come, including the discovery whether we are alone or not.
The Eerie Silence of the Cosmos With thousands of detected worlds on our cosmic shore that orbit other stars, the question becomes, so where is everybody? In this talk, the idea that Earth would be everyone’s first call will get a shake-up.
Solar Eclipses and the Secrets Eclipses Tell About New Worlds on Our Cosmic Horizon A total solar eclipse will paint a spectacular picture on the sky, where Earth, the moon, and the sun highlight the fascinating dynamics of our cosmos. But eclipses not only reveal the movement of a planetary system but also allow us to explore new worlds and exoplanets circling other stars. Eclipses are revolutionizing our view of the cosmos.
Spaceship Earth Earth Day, which is celebrated annually on April 22nd, is the largest civic event in the world, with over a billion people participating each year. When we build a spacecraft we meticulously need to make sure that the resources are perfectly recycled and the life support system is perfectly maintained. In this talk, we will walk through such a future spacecraft and then look out of the window and realize that Earth is our gigantic spaceship in the cosmos. A shift in thinking, about Earth as such a spaceship and the biosphere as the life support system, will help us protect our beautiful planet.
Voyager’s Amazing Journey and Humankind’s Dream - Our Pale Blue Dot NASA just managed to re-establish communication with the ailing Voyager-1 spacecraft that is the furthest away human-made object ever made en route to the stars. Voyager 1 is an amazing spacecraft that made incredible discoveries like the volcanoes on Io. Voyager 1 still holds the record of the furthest photo of Earth ever made. The spacecraft also carries a Golden Record on board (our message to the stars). Here we’ll dive into some of the highlights and fascinating questions that sending Voyager 1 out into the cosmos asks about what it means to be human.
How to spot Dinosaurs in Space Life has changed Earth profoundly - from the first vegetation painting its surface green to the high oxygen content that allowed for dinosaurs to roam. Actually, it would be easier to find space-dinosaur worlds than to find human worlds in space.
Where are the Aliens?: The Thousand Ways That Earth Has Blown Its Cover Searching for life in the cosmos demands the questions - where would we be the aliens? Which places in the cosmos have just the perfect spot to find us? And is there a time limit to spotting other worlds before they again disappear from our view? The answers may surprise you...
Could Your Favorite Science Fiction World Be Real? From outrunning the sunrise on Crematoria in The Chronicles of Riddick movie, Water Worlds, to watching the sunset under two stars on Tatooine in Star Wars, science fiction is full of fantastic worlds. Could some of them be real? And are there even stranger worlds science fiction has not even thought about yet?
Practical Tips for Everyone From a
Read Lisa Kaltenegger’s interview with the New York Times: “She Dreams of Pink Planets and Alien Dinosaurs”
The Next Big Idea Club’s “April 2024 Must-Read Books” includes Lisa Kaltenegger’s Alien Earths.
Lisa Kaltenegger speaks with Brian Keating for his podcast Into the Impossible with Brian Keating.
Listen to Lisa Kaltenegger for NPR Morning Edition.
Lisa Kaltenegger is featured in an article for The Atlantic: “Astronomers Are Keeping a Close Watch on the Next Star Over.”
Read Lisa Kaltenegger’s op-ed for CNN: “Could alien astronomers have spotted Earth?”
Read Quanta Magazine‘s feature on Lisa Kaltenegger: “A Dream of Discovering Alien Life Finds New Hope.”
Listen to Lisa Kaltenegger on the podcast Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda.
For the Financial Times, Lisa Kaltenegger writes the op-ed “Is Earth the only living planet?”
Find Lisa Kaltenegger on Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), and YouTube.
—Dan Tell, Planetarium Engineering Manager, California Academy of Sciences
"Lisa is an engaging, witty, and warm presenter who tunes her presentation to match the needs of her audience. She presents cutting-edge science in a truly accessible fashion, connecting with people and making her content clear and tangible. For the Morrison Planetarium Dean Lecture, she also took the plunge to work with digital artists and data visualizers to create immersive imagery for her presentation, which is not only a great treat for our audiences but also supports learning and clear communication in the planetarium. Not every scientist is as willing to collaborate as Lisa, and our team enjoyed the experience."
—Ryan Wyatt, Senior Director, Morrison Planetarium and Science Visualization
Praise for Alien Earths “A stellar exploration … Readers will be riveted.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“[Alien Earths] is an excursion that turns the esoteric field of stellar cartography into an engaging and entertaining story. … Kaltenegger clearly loves her subject and often injects flashes of dry wit and personal experience. … absorbing, informative, and entertaining.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Exquisite book is for all who have peered into the night sky pondering the mysteries of the universe … a mind-bending journey.”
—Booklist, starred review
“Eloquent … Science and space enthusiasts will revel in this journey through the cosmos. They will undoubtedly learn novel information along the way.”
—Library Journal
"In Alien Earths, Lisa Kaltenegger, a skillful educator, offers first-hand access to her expertise on the search for planets in the universe, and the life they may contain. Along the way, Lisa's breezy narrative style invites you to experience with her the challenges and joys of being a scientist on the frontier of discovery."
—Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist, American Museum of Natural History
"If you’ve ever wondered if we’re alone in the cosmos— and Dr. Kaltenegger is certain you have, start with Alien Earths. With her combined degrees in astronomy and engineering, she presents a primer on the geology, physics, chemistry, biology, and ultimately mathematics of places just like Earth— which she sets about seeking every (Earth) day. She’ll show you; the answer is in the sky, our window on the cosmos. Read on!"
—Bill Nye, CEO, The Planetary Society (and former student of Carl Sagan)