- Space Exploration Initiative
Maggie Coblentz is a researcher and artist from Canada. Her work explores a broad range of subjects, including the environment, wildlife, food, and technology. Maggie’s practice has included Arctic fieldwork, zero gravity flights, and an experiment in the International Space Station (ISS). Maggie’s research often takes shape as photography, writing, image-based books, and cooking.
She is the founder and director of Fieldscape, an exploratory interdisciplinary fieldwork platform that has worked with institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and independent researchers on various field campaigns spanning from the high Arctic to the Canary Islands. Maggie was based in Svalbard from 2021-2023 where she established a field school for the MIT Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) and converted her house into a temporary research station for international scientists and artists. Bridging scientific inquiry and artistic expression, Maggie's research programs enhance accessibility to remote research environments. Her previous role at SEI, from 2018 to 2022, explored the intersection of food and culture within the ISS.
Maggie received a Master of Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her work has been exhibited internationally including Ars Electronica (Austria), MIT Media Lab (US), World Expo 2020 Dubai (UAE), and MAXXI (Italy). She has been invited to speak at institutions including Yale, New York University, Parsons School of Design, Basque Culinary Center, and Berklee College of Music.