Deana L. Weibel, Ph.D. (University of California, San Diego, 2001), is a cultural anthropologist and Professor of Anthropology with a joint appointment in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies (specifically Religious Studies) at Grand Valley State University. Her research focuses on the anthropology of religion, pilgrimage, sacred space, the relationship between religion and science, and the cultural and spiritual dimensions of space exploration. Her early ethnographic work examined pilgrimage and religious innovation at sacred sites in France, particularly Rocamadour, as well as Chimayó, New Mexico. She has also researched the history of anthropology, including the experiences of Bontoc Igorot people exhibited at American fairs and expositions during the early twentieth century.

Much of Weibel's recent research examines how human beings understand, experience, and assign meaning to outer space. She has conducted ethnographic research at NASA facilities, commercial spaceports, and other institutions involved in space exploration, including a month of fieldwork at the Vatican Observatory in 2019. Her research explores the religious beliefs and practices of astronauts and other space professionals, the cultural significance of spaceflight, and the experiences of awe and humility associated with encountering the vastness of the universe. Her 2026 book, The Ultraview Effect: What We Can Learn from Astronauts About Awe, Humility, and Exploring the Unknown (University of California Press), examines how experiences of cosmic immensity can transform human perspectives and what those experiences might teach people on Earth.

Weibel is also a coauthor, with artist Jon Lomberg and spaceflight historian Glen E. Swanson, of the forthcoming Voyager's Golden Record, to be published in 2027 by Profile Books in the United Kingdom and the University of Chicago Press in North America. She is a Fellow of The Explorers Club and chair of its Chicago/Great Lakes Chapter. She is also a cofounder and organizer of Roger That!, an annual interdisciplinary celebration of space exploration honoring Grand Rapids astronaut Roger B. Chaffee. At GVSU, she served as chair of the Anthropology Department from 2012 to 2018 and interim chair of the Integrative, Religious, and Intercultural Studies Department from 2021 to 2022.

Books

• Forthcoming (2027). Weibel, Deana L., Glen E. Swanson, and Jon Lomberg. Voyager's Golden Record. Profile Books (UK) and University of Chicago Press (North America).

• 2026. Weibel, Deana L. The Ultraview Effect: What We Can Learn from Astronauts About Awe, Humility, and Exploring the Unknown. University of California Press.

• 2022. Weibel, Deana L. A Sacred Vertigo: Pilgrimage and Tourism in Rocamadour, France. Lexington Books.

• 2012. Crane, Hillary K., and Deana L. Weibel, editors. Missionary Impositions: Conversion, Resistance, and Other Challenges to Objectivity in Religious Ethnography. Lexington Books.

Selected Scholarly Publications

• 2023. “Astronauts as Chosen People: Religious Ways of Understanding the Astronaut Experience and Life After Space.” In Religion and Outer Space, edited by Eric Mazur and Sarah McFarland Taylor.

• 2023. “Sherpas on the Moon: The Case for Including ‘Native Guides’ in Space Exploration.” In Reclaiming Space: Progressive and Multicultural Visions of Space Exploration. Oxford University Press.

• 2020. “The Overview Effect and the Ultraview Effect: How Extreme Experiences In/Of Outer Space Influence Religious Beliefs in Astronauts.” Religions 11(8).

• 2019. “Mock Rituals, Sham Battles, and Real Research: Anthropologists and the Ethnographic Study of the Bontoc Igorot in 1900s ‘Igorrote Villages.’” Histories of Anthropology Annual 13.

• 2014. “A Savage at the Wedding and the Skeletons in My Closet: My Great-Grandfather, ‘Igorotte Villages,’ and the Ethnological Expositions of the 1900s.” In Mutuality: Anthropology's Changing Terms of Engagement. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Selected Public Scholarship

• 2026. “Star Trek and NASA have intertwined legacies: The show championed diversity and inspired generations of real space scientists.” The Conversation.

• 2026. “‘Project Hail Mary’ demonstrates how intellectual humility can be a guiding force for scientists and astronauts.” The Conversation.

• 2026. “Seeing an eclipse from Earth is awe-inspiring—for astronauts seeing one from space, the scene was even more grand.” The Conversation.

• 2024. “The sacred Moon: Navigating diverse cultural beliefs in lunar missions.” The Space Review.

Selected Presentations

• 2026. “The Ultraview Effect: Awe, Humility, and Exploring the Unknown.” The Explorers Club Headquarters, New York.

• 2026. “The Ultraview Effect: Awe, Humility, and Exploring the Unknown.” Great Lakes Planetarium Association Annual Conference, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

• 2025. “Antero Cabrera: The Trailblazing Field Expeditions of a Bontoc Cultural Mediator in Early 20th-Century America.” Remembering Forgotten Explorers, The Explorers Club, New York.

• 2023. “Reflections of Humans in Space.” International Space University Space Studies Program, São José dos Campos, Brazil.

Selected Honors and Professional Activities

• 2026. Aviation Space Writers Foundation Award, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, supporting research on the Voyager Golden Record.

• 2024–present. Fellow, The Explorers Club.

• 2022–present. Chair, Chicago/Great Lakes Chapter, The Explorers Club.

• 2017–present. Cofounder and co-organizer, Roger That! A Celebration of Space Exploration in Honor of Roger B. Chaffee.

• 1998–1999. Fulbright Research Award, France.

Website: www.deanaweibel.space