Penny Boston - Keynote Speaker
Dr. Penelope J. Boston is Associate Professor of Cave and Karst Science and Director of Cave and Karst Studies at New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM. Her areas of research include cave geomicrobiology, microbial life in highly mineralized environments, unique or characteristic biominerals and biosignature detection. Additionally, she is involved in astrobiology and the search for life beyond Earth. Cave formation mechanisms on other planetary bodies is a topic of particular interest to her. Her background includes geology, microbiology, atmospheric chemistry, global biogeochemical cycling, and climate/life interactions.

Kathryn Denning
Kathryn Denning merrily traipses through the terrain of anthropology, archaeology, and philosophy, as she examines metanarratives about Others, and compares ideas about the best ways of knowing Others. Her subjects include the ancient, the animal, and the alien. She is a professor in the Anthropology department at York University in Toronto, where she teaches archaeology and thinks a lot about SETI. If you have any extraterrestrial artifacts, please feel free to donate them to her as-yet-nonexistent collection.

Gus Frederick
Gus Frederick is a multi-media artist, animator and technical illustrator who lives in Silverton, Oregon with his cats, lots of books and tons of 78rpm phonograph records. He currently works as a Training and Development Specialist for the Oregon Department of Human Services. A long-time space enthusiast, he is a member of the International Mars Society's steering committee, and serves on the board for the Oregon Fellowship of Reconciliation, a state chapter for one of the oldest peace and justice advocacy groups.

Jeroen Lapré
Jeroen Lapré has been with Industrial Light & Magic since 1996. As a Technical Director at ILM he is responsible for the assembly and rendering of visual effects in feature films including CG lighting of the 3D elements and integrating them with the actors, sets, props and locations. His film credits with ILM include Star Wars episodes 1 and 2, Artificial Intelligence, Hulk, T3, The Time Machine and many others. In addition to his work at ILM, Jeroen is working with Sir Arthur C. Clarke on a film version of Clarke's story, Maelstrom II.

Larry Niven
Larry Niven has been a full-time writer since leaving UCLA in 1963. A worldwide bestseller, he is best known for the legendary Ringworld series, which The Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction called "the most energetic future history series ever written". A multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula awards, Niven was once named by Arthur C Clarke as his favorite author, and his rigorous scientific consistency has earned a reputation as the premier modern author of "hard" SF. Niven, in conjunction with a group of science fiction writers known as SIGMA, began advising the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as to future trends affecting terror policy and other topics. An original member of our organization, Larry was a veteran of the First CONTACT in 1983, our keynote speaker in 1995, and has been a continuing supporter of our activites.

Gerald Nordley
Gerald is a retired Air Force officer, author and astronautical engineer who has published both technical and science fiction work and has won Analog's annual "Anlab" reader's award three times for fiction and once for non-fiction. His latest book, writing as "G. David Nordley" is After the Vikings, a collection of futuristic Mars related stories. Gerald writes a science column for Speculations, an electronic/print magazine for Science Fiction writers and also serves as CONTACT's treasurer.

Carlo Séquin
Carlo, originally a physicist, has been a professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley since 1977. For the last 20 years he has been interested in computer graphics, geometric modeling, and computer-aided design tools for circuit designers, architects, and for mechanical engineers. He has also collaborated with artists, and has created several designs for geometric sculptures.

Kim Stanley Robinson
Kim Stanley Robinson, one of today's most highly acclaimed science fiction writers, has received many honors. Stan has won the Hugo Award for Best Novel with Green Mars (1994) and Blue Mars (1997); the Nebula Award for Best Novel with Red Mars (1993); the Nebula Award for Best Novella with The Blind Geometer (1986); the World Fantasy Award with Black Air (1983); a John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel with Pacific Edge (1991); and Locus Awards for The Wild Shore (1985), A Short, Sharp Shock (1991), Green Mars (1994), Blue Mars (1997), The Martians (2000), and The Years of Rice and Salt (2003). He has been a constant and entertaining presenter at CONTACT for many years.

Seth Shostak
Seth is senior astronomer and official spokesman for the SETI Institute. A distinguished astronomer with many publications to his credit, Seth is also a photographer, filmmaker and widely known media personality. Seth's book, Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life has received much public and scholarly acclaim.

Carol Stoker
Dr. Carol Stoker is a staff scientist in the Space Sciences Division at the NASA Ames Research Center in California. She is a lead scientist on the Phoenix mission whose four principal science teams include Biological Potential, Geology, Chemistry and Minerology, and Atmospheric Science. Dr. Stoker leads the Biological Potential working group responsible for evaluating the biological potential, or biohabitability, of the polar landing site. Her Mars-analog drilling experience and research into life in extreme environments on Earth, together with her development of the virtual reality technology that enhances the control of mobile rovers, make her uniquely qualified to participate in the exploration of the Polar region of Mars currently underway by the Phoenix mission.