I’m a science fiction guy, starting back in elementary school when I was a voracious speculative fiction reader.
I’m proud of my participation in a national science fiction conference, and since there’s nowhere else to highlight that work on this site, I figured I’d make a post to capture it.
Starting in 1983, I was lucky to be involved with CONTACT – Cultures of the Imagination — an annual interdisciplinary conference that brought together renowned social and space scientists, science fiction writers, and artists to exchange ideas, stimulate new perspectives, and encourage serious, creative speculation about humanity’s future.
As an illustrator and creator, I worked alongside teams of scientists, authors, and other artists to imagine future human cultures and extrapolative alien species and cultures. Each annual conference culminated in live role-playing of “First Contact” scenarios.
I was lucky to know and work with scientists like Seth Shostak (SETI) and Chris McKay (NASA); authors like Poul Anderson, David Brin, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Andy Weir; and artists like Wayne Barlowe (Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials) and Rick Sternbach (Star Trek: TNG).
In 1990, I became a Board Member and the Art Director for the conference.
In 1991, I coauthored an article titled “Extrapolative Futurism As An Educational Tool,” which appeared in The Journal of Practical Applications in Space – Volume 3 Issue 1.
In 1992, my illustrations of aliens (designed with Poul Anderson) appeared in OMNI Magazine’s article “How to Build a Real Alien.”
In 1998, I co-presented Contact’s one-day workshop at a MENSA meeting on the topic of extrapolating alien biologies for gameplay and literature.
In 2013, I joined the CONTACT team at NASA Ames Research Center for an exobiology experiment, extrapolating potential alien species.
Chip Street - Writey Guy 