I photographed Ellen Stofan at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. We talked about planetary science, black holes, and the deeply human impulse to push past the visible edge of understanding.

Ellen has spent her career studying worlds most of us will never encounter firsthand. Venus beneath crushing clouds. Titan wrapped in hydrocarbon haze. The buried histories of planets, moons, atmospheres, and landscapes that reveal how solar systems are built, transformed, and sometimes made capable of life.

She served as NASA’s Chief Scientist from 2013 to 2016, helping guide the agency’s scientific vision and strategy. Earlier, she held leadership roles at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and contributed to major planetary missions, including Cassini’s exploration of Saturn and its moons. Her work has shaped modern understanding of the solar system and the forces that formed it.

Ellen later became the first woman to lead the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, steering one of the world’s most important science institutions through a major transformation. Today, as Under Secretary for Science and Research at the Smithsonian, she oversees research spanning astronomy, climate, biodiversity, anthropology, and human origins.

What stayed with me from our conversation was her command of scale. Geological time. Cosmic time. Billions of years held comfortably alongside the practical discipline of science. Observation. Evidence. The patient work of turning curiosity into knowledge.