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.

Steven Dick is an astrobiologist and editor of The Impact of Discovering Life Beyond Earth  and Many Worlds: The New Universe, Extraterrestrial Life and Theological Implications. In 2013, he gave a joint lecture on the same subject at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion.

Stephen Freeland is an evolutionary biologist and director of interdisciplinary studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He studies the interface of science and religion and gave a joint lecture in exoplanets for the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion.

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?.

Benjamin Blech is a rabbi and a professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University in New York City. He has written about what the discovery of intelligent alien life would mean to Judaism.

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.

Marc Kaufman is a science writer and author of First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth. He writes the blog “Many Worlds.”

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.