Nathalie is the Director of the SETI Institute Carl Sagan Center since August 2015, where she is currently developing a new, multidisciplinary, roadmap to bridge astrobiology and the SETI search. Nathalie has a background in planetary science and astrobiology. She joined the SETI Institute in 1998. Her research focuses on the exploration of habitability and life beyond Earth. She counts over 470 peer-reviewed publications and proceedings of professional conferences. She is the author of 3 books, and 7 chapters of books on the subject of planetary science and exploration, astrobiology, and terrestrial extreme environments.
Nathalie's work is featured in the US and international media (e.g., TED talk, Discovery Channel, NOVA, M6, BBC, National Geographic, Scientific American, Popular Science, New, New Einsteins, Tested.com, other) and in popular books (e.g., The Martian Race, Gregory Bendford, Warner Books; Almost Human: Making Robots Think, Lee Gutkind, Norton & Company, Inc; Are We Alone? Gloria Skurzynski, National Geographic Society; Mapping Mars: Science, Imagination, and the Birth of a World, Macmillan).
She is the recipient of NASA and other research awards. She was elected Carey Fellow in 2007, Women of Discovery (Air and Space) Wings Worldquest (2005), and received an International Women Leadership Association Award in 2012. Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) has a central place in her work. She mentors students in the field and in the lab., and meets with them in schools. All of her projects involve a large educational and outreach component. To date, she has given over 400 public lectures on the subjects of planetary science, exploration, and the search for life beyond Earth.