Voices - Dr. Jill Tarter

Jill Tarter

Quicktime interview with
Jill Tarter:

	Nulls in the sky

	Virtual exploration

	Imagination and science

	SETI and Life in the Universe

	Evolution

Quicktime required

Chance and the Prepared Mind

Dr. Jill Tarter, Director of SETI Research, pauses when asked about nulling. "Chance favors the prepared mind," she responds, prefacing her answer with a quote from Louis Pasteur. She then explains that Ron Bracewell, Stanford Professor of Engineering and interferometry expert, first introduced nulling to SETI astronomers back in the Cyclops days.

That the property could effectively screen signals from known sources of radio interference—an enormous advantage for both SETI and other types of radio astronomy—was an unexpected attribute that emerged in the research and development phase of the Allen Telescope Array. Though this bonus capability was unexpected, Tarter and her team were fully ready to use it, and use it well.

Jodi Foster as Ellie Arroway from Contact the movie

Preparation for life's opportunities is a theme that runs throughout Tarter's 30-plus year long SETI career. A brief look at her biography reveals that Pasteur's magical mix of readiness and chance weighs heavily on the side of the former.

Often likened to Ellie Arroway, the lead character in the movie, Tarter conversed with Jodie Foster for a number of months both before, and during the filming of Contact. The actress's screen portrayal of Ellie is a study in drive, intelligence, determination—and a "touch of obsession," adds Tarter, qualities recognized by all who know the Institute's chief SETI scientist.

Role models

"My dad was the total center of my universe," Tarter reflects. "He was responsible for me being somewhat nontraditional in interests." The only child of a former pro-football player, she fondly recalls weekends spent hunting, fishing and camping.

From her father she learned self-confidence and belief in the value of persistence and "correcting mistakes." She describes dismantling and attempting to reassemble radios under her father's watchful eyes, and her frustration that "there would always be pieces left over." Turning to her father for help, she'd be directed to take it apart and try again. "Eventually," she smiles, "I'd get it right." Her mother was mystified by her daughter's interest in such "unfeminine" pursuits, but worked and sacrificed for many years so that Jill could follow her ambitions.

During high school, a physics teacher whose name she remembers only as "Doc" would reinforce the early lessons in perseverance. She fondly recalls an anecdote about Doc, who "took her under his wing" and profoundly influenced the young teen after her father passed away when she was 12.

Hard Work and a Silver Wishbone

"In high school THE THING among popular girls was to wear a chicken wishbone around your neck on a chain. I wanted to silver-plate mine." Tarter and Doc worked long and hard on the problem. Her teacher wrote to companies that bronze plated baby shoes, but none would divulge their proprietary processes.

"We knew you had to be able to do it," she gestures with her hand for emphasis. "We spent hours experimenting with various chemicals." Eventually they found that rubbing an "enormous amount of graphite" from a pencil into the wishbone provided enough conductivity for the silver to adhere and, she says, "I had a silver wishbone, just barely." True to form, she qualifies her success, "It tarnished within a week."

From Engineering to Astrophysics

Tarter studied engineering as an undergraduate at Cornell. While learning valuable problem solving skills in her studies, the field lacked appeal. In the 60s engineering was not yet the dynamic and exciting field she believes it is today, and upon graduation, she found herself "looking around for other interesting problems to solve."

Taking a number of courses at Cornell in graduate school, she clearly recalls the day she "walked into a course on star formation taught by Ed Salpeter." In those early moments of the lecture, things fell into place for her. She describes the instant when everything "just clicked." "Hey," she remembers thinking, "now these are interesting problems!" So she "transitioned" from engineering to astrophysics.

From Astrophysics to SETI

SERENDIP III Screenshot
image credit official SERENDIP site

"My transition to radio astronomy" she continues, "came when I decided I really was interested in SETI." By then, Tarter was a Ph.D. student at the University of California Berkeley. Tarter had programmed a computer that would later be given to SERENDIP, a small and (cash-poor) early SETI project at UCB. Consulted because of her knowledge of the machine, Tarter first learned about the nascent field.

Intrigued, she read Bernard Oliver's Project Cyclops report, which kindled a life-long dedication to seeking intelligent life on other worlds. "When you realize that you live in the first generation of humans with access to a technology that might answer the age old question, 'Are we alone?' all other scientific questions fade in importance." She realized she needed to master the tool of the trade, the radio telescope. "I was very lucky" she says, in having "extraordinarily good teachers," one of whom, Jack Welch, would become her husband and SETI collaborator.

Creating the SETI Institute Charter

Tarter's lists of credits and accomplishments span a lengthy SETI career, and are well-documented in both the popular media and in proceedings of professional conferences and journals. She has been both a champion of—and leader in—the field of SETI science and gender-equity (whenever she can), playing pivotal roles in the careers of colleagues and helping drive the formation of the Institute itself. In 1984, she and other SETI scientists helped Institute founder Tom Pierson draft the charter for a new Institute, formed with the objective of stretching the scarce SETI research dollars as far as possible.

As they began to write the charter for an efficient, non-government research organization, the group saw an opportunity to create a mission covering a broad suite of research, one that addressed all facets of the Drake Equation. The new research institute could explore the prospects for all manner of life off Earth. That early vision would allow the Institute to grow into the world's only organization devoted to seeking other life in the universe, both microbial and complex.

Hopes for the Future

Asked about the future, the Institute's Director of SETI Research envisions the Allen Telescope Array as a premier instrument conducting state of the art radio astronomy and SETI searches simultaneously, '24/7.' And with characteristic optimism and zeal for life's possibilities she adds that "in some sense" she hopes the next ten years will yield opportunities "we cannot predict."

Like Pasteur, the pioneering scientist who explored the invisible microbial world with a microscope, Tarter opens a window onto another unseen world, one that emerges a bit more with each observation. And she knows that every advance in SETI science is likely to spark new questions, even while answering old ones. For the interesting new questions that may lie ahead, she is ready.

News