Kelly Weinersmith (née Smith) is an American biologist, writer, and podcaster. She is a member of the faculty at
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universit ...
in the Department of BioSciences, and an alumni collaborator with the Parasite Ecology Group at the
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the ...
. She is co-author, with her husband
, of
popular science
''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
books ''Soonish'' (2017) and ''
A City on Mars'' (2023).
Research
A parasitologist, Weinersmith is the co-discoverer of ''
Euderus set
''Euderus set'', the crypt-keeper wasp, is a tiny chalcid wasp from the family Eulophidae from the United States, described in 2017 as a parasitoid of the gall wasp ''Bassettia pallida'', and the description of its life cycle attracted widesprea ...
'', commonly known as the Cryptkeeper Wasp.
Books
* ''Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything'' (2017) is a work co-authored with her husband
looking at upcoming technologies that could change the future. The book made #7 in Science on ''The New York Times'' bestsellers in the science book category.
*''
A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?'' (2023) is a popular science book on
space settlement
A space habitat (also called a space settlement, space colony, spacestead, space city, orbital habitat, orbital settlement, orbital colony, orbital stead or orbital city) is a more advanced form of living quarters than a space station or habi ...
and challenges facing a potential
colonization of Mars
Colonization or settlement of Mars is the theoretical human migration and long-term human establishment of Mars. The prospect has garnered interest from public space agencies and private corporations and has been extensively explored in scien ...
,
colonization of the Moon
Colonization of the Moon or Lunar settlement is a process, or concept employed by some proposals, for claiming robotic or human exploitation and settlement on the Moon.
Laying claim to the Moon has been declared illegal through internationa ...
, and related activities. In particular, it draws on Weinersmith's experience as an ecologist to study maintaining ecologies off-Earth where the humans in them do not all rapidly perish, a difficult task.
The work made 11th place on
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list for all hardback non-fiction books.
Other activities
Weinersmith is a regular co-host of the ''Science... sort of'' podcast.
She was a speaker at
Smithsonian Magazine
''Smithsonian'' is the official journal published by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The first issue was published in 1970.
History
The history of ''Smithsonian'' began when Edward K. Thompson, the retired editor of ''Life'' ma ...
's "2015 Future Is Here Festival".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weinersmith, Kelly
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American parasitologists
American women biologists
21st-century American women writers
Women science writers
American science writers
American podcasters
Rice University faculty
American women academics
American women podcasters