Seth is the Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute in California, and is part of the research team using large radio telescopes to search for evidence of intelligent life elsewhere. His educational background includes a BA in physics from Princeton University and a PhD in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology. His research work on galaxies, using radio telescopes around the world, included 13 years at the State University of Groningen in The Netherlands.

Other activities include a software startup in the San Francisco Bay Area and a computer animation company in Holland.

For most of a decade, Seth was a Distinguished Lecturer for the International Academy of Astronautics and for ten years was chair of the IAA’s SETI Permanent Committee.

In addition to publishing more than 60 papers in refereed research journals, Seth is heavily involved in science outreach. He has appeared on hundreds of national and international TV and radio shows, and is host of the SETI Institute’s weekly, one-hour radio show Big Picture Science, now broadcast on more than 100 stations in the U.S. and Canada. He has penned more than 600 popular articles on science, technology, photography, and film. He is the author of four books, including a college textbook on astrobiology.