Madeline Shepley is a planetarium director, physics and astronomy professor, podcaster, and science fiction writer. Her podcast, Shine Bright Like the Firmament, features wide-ranging conversations with fellow Catholic STEM professionals about all aspects of the intersection of faith and science. The podcast recently celebrated its one hundredth episode, in which Madeline interviewed Daniel Kuebler, author of Darwin and Doctrine.
In the following conversation, Madeline discusses her experiences sharing the wonder of the universe with young minds, her role as a Catholic science communicator, and her love of science fiction.
Thomas Salerno: What’s it like working as a planetarium director? That must be a fascinating job!
Madeline Shepley: It is a fascinating job, and you have to be a jack-of-all-trades, or at least know yourself well enough to outsource a task that isn’t your strong suit. At the planetarium, I am in charge of setting our public show schedule each season, training student operators, acquiring and maintaining programming, reaching out to the community, and occasionally delivering live star talks!
Were you interested in science and the natural world as a child? What first piqued your interest in astronomy and the study of the heavens?
I’ve been interested in science from a young age, especially astronomy. I remember that my parents often made sure that we had interesting nonfiction books (e.g., astronomy, paleontology, anatomy, archaeology, etc.) on our shelves for us to learn from. Also formative to my love of science was watching shows like The Universe from the History Channel. The vastness of the universe and all the cool things within it just ensnared my attention.
With science and faith together, I have a more complete picture of the universe.
Would you say that studying the heavens has strengthened your faith? And conversely, has your Catholic faith made you a better scientist?
Oh, definitely! Both my faith and the science I study have strengthened each other. To borrow from what I often tell my students, faith and science are both the search for truth. One helps me know more about God, the Creator. The other helps me know more about his creation. With science and faith together, I have a more complete picture of the universe.
Have you experienced any challenges as a Catholic working in the natural sciences?
I haven’t experienced as many challenges as I thought I would when I was a kid. However, when I do come across challenges, it usually has to do with the erroneous notion that the Church’s views are outdated or antiquated. Further examination beyond the surface reveals that the Church’s teachings are timeless. I also sometimes hear accusations about the “Galileo affair,” but I try to remind people that there were complex factors that led to how the incident was handled and that the hindsight of a few hundred years often colors how the Church and Galileo are treated in the modern day.
You teach astronomy and physics to undergraduates. How do you navigate the complexities and nuances of the science-and-faith dialogue with your students?
I work at a Christian school, so I find these topics easier to address with my students. Many of them—though not all—come from Christian backgrounds, but they come from a variety of denominations and traditions. I want to give them a space to hear that they can embrace both science and faith, and I give them space to ask questions. For example, in the past I’ve set aside days in class to talk about their own experiences with the science-and-faith dialogue. Last semester, I dedicated a day to talking about the parallels between astronomy and faith that show how we can use them as analogs for each other.
As a science communicator, what would you say are the most common misconceptions that the average person has about Catholicism and science? How does your work address those misconceptions?
The first thing I thought of was the Galileo affair and how that whole incident has perpetuated the idea that the Church is against science. For example, I once read a student’s extra credit essay that erroneously claimed Galileo was kicked out of the Church! However, if you know about the way the Church works, you know that being “kicked out of the Church” implies excommunication, which is not what happened to Galileo at all. I try to encourage my students to understand that the situation was made much more complex by Galileo’s close relationship with the pope, the geopolitics of the era, and the unfolding Protestant Reformation.
I’ve found that I’m in the unique position to correct misconceptions such as these and give students the freedom to question what they have been taught in the past. This also means that I get to introduce them to people of faith who shatter this misconception. This semester, I was inspired by one of my biology colleagues to start what I like to call “Faith and Physics Fridays,” where each week I introduce my students to a new faithful person of science who made a contribution to the world of physics. It’s my hope that this shows them that they too can transcend misconceptions about science and faith.
You’ve interviewed a wide variety of Catholic STEM professionals on your podcast, Shine Bright Like the Firmament. What are the most surprising things you’ve learned from these conversations?
Honestly, what amazes me is the universality of harmony between science and faith over the wide variety of Catholic STEM workers that I’ve spoken to. I’ve interviewed people across the major STEM disciplines, in various different vocations, over a wide age range, and across different cultures. No matter what, there exist Catholics who know that, when it comes to faith and science, you don’t need to choose one or the other—that you can have both. This gives me such beautiful hope that a Catholic of any background can find someone like them who is faithful and loves science.
In a world where humans often objectify, disparage, and treat others as inferior, I think universal human dignity is a powerful countercultural message.
You’re not only a working scientist and a science communicator, you’re also a science fiction author! What inspired you to write in this genre? How does your faith inform the stories you write?
I’ve always loved how science fiction explores what could be in the future of our universe, and I love how it often combines real-world science with a fantastical setting like the future or another planet. It’s the best of both worlds! Science fiction allows me to speculate on the future, building a world that is unique and removed enough from modern-day life to examine important themes from a more objective vantage point, without the trappings and baggage of our current time and place.
In a lot of contemporary sci-fi, there aren’t many characters who are faithful adherents of any religion. Knowing how much faith impacts your worldview and that most people around the world follow some sort of religion, that just doesn’t seem realistic. My faith reminds me that readers should have opportunities to see characters trying to live out their faith, and so I always strive to write characters who are religious in my works.
Science fiction is a genre that often tackles the “big questions” of consciousness, immortality, time, and existence. Would you agree that Catholic sci-fi authors can bring a powerful, fresh perspective to this genre?
Oh, for sure! Science fiction allows us to imagine where our world could possibly go in the future and how we’ll transcend our current limitations and mistakes. It allows us to explore how we can make the world a better place. What I love about the Catholic voices in the science fiction space is how they infuse hope into their stories and show that suffering is not meaningless. They remind us that the ends don’t justify the means and show that created beings—especially those made in God’s image—have immeasurable dignity and that to infringe on that dignity is a horrible crime. In a world where humans often objectify, disparage, and treat others as inferior, I think universal human dignity is a powerful countercultural message.
Do you have any advice for young Catholics who are thinking about becoming scientists themselves?
My biggest advice to young, science-minded Catholics is to embrace the idea that science and faith are both searches for truth. Asking questions is good! God wants you to ask questions to get to know him and his creation better. After all, you cannot have love without free will, so you should know how the world works and what you’ve signed up for. Chances are you aren’t the only person asking those questions!