David Weintraub is a professor of astronomy at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and the author of Religions and Extraterrestrial Life: How Will We Deal With It?.

The Rev. James Kurzynski is a Catholic priest in the Diocese of LaCrosse, Wis., and a hobby astronomer. He writes frequently for the Vatican Observatory blog.

Brother Guy Consolmagno is a Jesuit and director of the the Vatican Observatory, as well as president of its foundation. He is a frequent commentator on religion and science and wrote the pamphlet “Intelligent Life in the Universe: Catholic belief and the search for extraterrestrial life.” The observatory is in Tucson, Ariz.

The Rev. Thomas O’Meara is a Catholic priest and professor emeritus at Notre Dame University. He is the author of Vast Universe: Extraterrestrials and Christian Revelation.

Robert Lawrence Kuhn is an investment banker, public intellectual and the creator of “Closer to Truth,” a PBS television show, website and series of videos and podcasts that examine the “big questions” of existence. Contact via his Facebook page.

Werner Arber is a Nobel Prize-winning microbiologist and president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences. In 2016, the academy held a conference titled “Power and Limits of Artificial Intelligence” with professionals working in AI. He has said it is important for the Vatican “to have a voice” in the development of AI. Contact via the Pontifical […]

James Thrall is an associate professor of religion and culture at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. He teaches a course on science fiction and religion, which includes popular culture, film and literature. He can speak about the novel and the television adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle as well as the works […]

Lorenzo DiTomasso is a professor of religion and culture at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is an expert on apocalypticism, from the ancient to the contemporary, and also studies religion and science fiction.

Steven Hrotic is a part-time faculty member in religion at the University of Vermont in Burlington. He is the author of Religion and Science Fiction: The Evolution of an Idea and the Extinction of a Genre.