AJ CHRISTENSEN

AJ Christensen is a senior visualization designer for the NASA Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS), where he develops animated 3D data visualizations both for the general public and the scientific community. These data-driven animations feature numerical datasets from scientific instruments and supercomputer models that have been collected, calculated, and validated by domain experts across the NASA Science Mission Directorate and beyond. AJ is both a programmer and an artist who specializes in visual representations of dynamic 3D volumetric data models, Hollywood-inspired visual aesthetics, immersive and interactive graphics, and science topics in heliophysics, earth science, and astrophysics. Projects he has worked on at NASA have been recognized with two Emmys, two Webbys, and the Robert H Goddard Award.

Beyond his work at NASA, AJ has contributed to more than a dozen planetarium and IMAX documentary films, as well as the Oscar-winning visual effects of the movie “Interstellar”. He has also directed five animated narrative short films that have played in festivals. His educational background includes a BS in Computer Science and an MS in Science Learning in Digital Environments, some film school, and certificates in science communication and organizational leadership. His academic background also includes teaching data visualization courses at the University of Illinois and coauthoring research in the fields of astrophysics, biophysics, and plant science.