Ganoune Diop serves as general secretary of the International Religious Liberty Association, which is based in Silver Spring, Md. He is an ordained Seventh-day Adventist minister and he previously taught biblical languages, exegesis and theology at Adventist universities in France and the U.S.

Florence Raulin Cerceau is a director at Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence and an associate professor at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. She is a historian of astrobiology and of the search for intelligent alien life.

Nathalie Cabrol is a senior research scientist and director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif. She is an astrobiologist and planetary scientist. She contributed an essay on SETI for the book Aliens: The World’s Leading Leading Scientists on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

Clément Vidal describes himself as a “big questions philosopher.” He is a researcher and an assistant professor at the Free University of Brussels in Belgium. Among his areas of study is the potential impact the discovery of intelligent alien life would have on society.

Francoise Bissara-Frereau is a French artist and sculptor whose subjects are frequently religious and include St. Joan of Arc, the Virgin Mary, the Holy Family and the Last Supper. Contact via the form on her website.

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 […]

Brian Pellot is director of global strategy at Religion News Foundation and Religion News Service. He organized and implemented the November 2016 workshop in Cape Town and wrote this guide, its corresponding curriculum, and the forthcoming reporting guide on religion and sexual/gender minorities in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Joel Bedos is executive director at the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia & Biphobia. The annual day is observed on May 17 to draw the attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements, the public and the media to the violence and discrimination experienced by LGBTI people internationally.