Scientist & Author

Dr. Kelly Weinersmith

Welcome! I study and write about parasites, animal behavior, space settlements, emerging technology, and more!

I’ve written two books with my husband, which both became NYTimes Bestsellers. Our latest book is A City on Mars.

Current appointments:

Adjunct Assistant Professor, BioSciences, Rice University
Research Associate, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
President, Helminthological Society of Washington
Vice President, American Society of Parasitologists

Available Now

Kelly Weinersmith

Author & Scientist

My Story

Thaasophobia is the fear of boredom. In an attempt to never get bored – I say “yes” to a broad array of projects. I’ve swam in near-freezing waters in Wisconsin to study smallmouth bass mating behaviors, carefully sorted through vomit to see if non-native largemouth bass were eating native fish, spent a year studying international law and its applications to space, pondered if communal living is a good model for early space settlements, been kicked in the shin by a leatherback sea turtle that was being tagged (ouch), helped describe a parasitoid wasp that emerges through its host’s head, and was humbled by how little I know when trying to come up with facts for a trivia game. It’s been fun. Check out my CV for more info on my projects.

Download my CV

Recent Projects

Everyone Else Thinks This Game is Awesome

In Everyone Else Thinks This Game Is Awesome, you are all asked trivia questions, simultaneously write down answers, and then assign grad students to different locations based on who, if anyone, you think wrote down a correct answer. Based on how well you predicted answers, including your own, you earn (or lose) citation points. Eventually, someone will climb their way up the academic ladder, win the game, and retire as an Emeritus Professor.

Soonish

NYTimes Bestseller · Featured on NPR’s Science Friday, NPR’s Marketplace, Science, Nature, Forbes, Wired, Smithsonian Magazine, Freakonomics, Wired, Scientific American, The Wall Street Journal, Popular Science, Slate, Time Magazine, The Guardian, BBC Wales, C-SPAN, and more.

A City on Mars

New York Times Bestseller · A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice · A Barnes & Noble’s Best Science & Nature Books of 2023 · Nominated for the Los Angeles Times 2023 Book Prize for in the Science & Technology category · Nominated for a Hugo in the Best Related Works category · Scientific American’s #1 Book for 2023 · A Times Best Science and Environment Book of 2023

Research

I have a PhD in Ecology from the University of California Davis. Much of my research is about how parasites influence host behavior,
but I’m also interested in things like bass ecology and parasitoid communities. Click the buttons below to find my publications.

Google Scholar Profile

ResearchGate Profile