Life & Work with Leslie Wickman of Orange County

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie Wickman.

Hi Leslie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, the daughter of two STEM-oriented parents: a forestry engineer and a dietician. Growing up in rural communities across Washington and Oregon, I lived where the timber industry was central to daily life. My early exposure to science came not so much from a classroom, but from living in close contact with nature. A big part of that included my father’s backyard telescope. On clear nights, we would observe the moon and planets, sparking a fascination with the cosmos that would define my future career.
Despite this early wonder, I experienced a significant intellectual tension during my formative years. While my family life was grounded in Christian faith, my public school education presented naturalistic theories that to a child’s mind seemed incompatible with a Creator. Lacking a way to integrate these two worldviews, I learned to compartmentalize my life, keeping my faith more or less separate from my scientific studies to navigate the academic world.
These dueling interests eventually led me to Stanford University and a career in the aerospace industry. I secured an engineering position with a prominent NASA contractor, where I worked on critical projects including the Hubble Space Telescope repair missions and assembly scenarios for the International Space Station. My role expanded when I was designated as a Corporate Astronaut, a position that required rigorous preparation, including high-altitude physiology training, flight training, and extensive weightless environment simulations.
It was during this immersion in the technical realities of spaceflight that my perspective shifted. As I studied the environmental parameters required to sustain life, I realized that Earth can be characterized as a very unique Goldilocks planet—balanced on a proverbial knife’s edge to be hospitable to life. Contrasting Earth with the hostile environments of Venus (with its sulfuric acid clouds and 900-degree surface temperatures) and Mars (a frozen wasteland), I saw scientific evidence of fine-tuning rather than random accident.
This realization helped dismantle the wall I had built between science and faith. I came to understand that the “Book of Nature” and the “Book of Scripture” were written by the same Author. Instead of contradicting each another, they actually harmonized, enabling a better understanding of both.
Motivated by this synthesis, I extended my work in aerospace to academia and ministry, often lecturing at both universities and churches. (It was during this time that I had an opportunity to write my book, God of the Big Bang – How Modern Science Affirms the Creator.) Today, the primary mission of my non-profit (Starry Nights, Inc.) is to help others bridge the gap between science and faith that I once felt. Over the years, I’ve seen far too many students feeling that they had to make an unnecessary choice between science and faith. My hope is to demonstrate that scientific inquiry and spiritual faith are not enemies, but partners in revealing the truth of the universe.
(More information at starrynights.me)

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
See my response to the question about my life story. I work as an engineering specialist on human spaceflight projects in the aerospace industry, but I’m also an educator, an author, and an inspirational speaker. My passion is for helping people (especially students) understand the compatibility between science and faith, and realize that there is no need to think of them as an “either/or” choice.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Probably my most significant personal habit is attempting to study, reflect on and journal about the Bible on a daily basis.
There are a lot of books that I’ve learned a great deal from, including all the works of C.S. Lewis.

Pricing:

• Speaking engagements/negotiable fee.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://starrynights.me