Smithsonian Journeys Experts

Dr. Steven H. Williams is a planetary geologist and an expert in solar system science. He has conducted fieldwork in numerous locations from the American Southwest to Antarctica, and has considerable experience in Mars analog laboratory work. During his 15 years at Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM), Steven held a number of posts, including Chair of the Education department. He created, managed, and delivered a wide variety of programs, hosted live Planetarium shows, helped create several award-winning educational videos, and contributed significantly to the design and content of museum’s new Exploring the Planets gallery. Steven is particularly skilled in designing and delivering educational programs that make complex scientific topics understandable to any audience. 

While at NASM, Steven was recruited by NASA to serve a two-year detail assignment at NASA Headquarters, where he created and delivered a number of outreach programs and products for launches, landings, science conferences, and other events.  He created the database for NASA’s SPACE365 app, which links space exploration milestones with their historical setting, as well as the definitive Mars exploration “batting average” spreadsheet, which showcases just how difficult Mars exploration has been.