Today, I’m thrilled to introduce a truly stellar guest, pun intended! Joining me is Tessa Fisher, an American Ph.D. student, astrobiologist, blogger, and self-proclaimed “alien hunter.” She’s also a passionate science communicator and aspiring science fiction writer whose work merges the cosmic with the deeply personal. Tessa is, by her own humorous admission, “perhaps the world’s only queer trans astrobiologist”, though she’s recently discovered she’s not the only one after all (the galaxy is, after all, a big place!). With a brain wired for both mathematics and imagination, Tessa uses graph theory to help detect potential signs of life on distant exoplanets, yes, real alien worlds! But beyond her academic brilliance lies a personal story just as compelling: her journey as a transgender woman navigating transition, love, identity, and representation in the scientific world.
She’s someone who’s not only looking to the stars for answers, but also helping to redefine what a scientist looks like here on Earth. In this interview, we talk about everything from the Fermi Paradox and the possibility of intelligent civilizations, to Tessa’s favorite sci-fi authors, her experience with hormone therapy, and the importance of having a supportive partner. We also touch on the challenges and triumphs of coming out, the visibility of trans women in STEM, and why Tessa thinks she’s “too busy living science fiction to write about it.” So grab your telescope, or at least a cup of tea, and join me as we dive into Tessa’s universe, where queerness meets quantum theory, and courage is as infinite as the cosmos.