PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Sara Imari Walker

Sara Imari Walker is a theoretical physicist and astrobiologist whose work on artificial life includes questions about AI and consciousness. She studied physics at Florida Institute of Technology and Dartmouth after earning an associate degree at Cape Cod Community College, then joined Arizona State University in 2013. Her papers explore algorithmic information, model life's emergence as a transition shaped by selection, and develop assembly theory to measure molecular complexity and identify biosignatures. She received an origins-of-life early-career award in 2021, became a 2023 Schmidt Science Polymath, and published Life as No One Knows It in 2024. As of October 2026, she is a professor at ASU and Deputy Director of its Beyond Center.

Now at
ASU–Santa Fe Institute Center for Biosocial Complex Systems
Works
164
Citations
3,347
h-index
33

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2003–2010

    Degrees across three colleges

    She earns an A.A. in math, science and pre-engineering at Cape Cod Community College in 2003, a B.S. in physics at Florida Institute of Technology in 2005, and a Ph.D. in physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College in 2010.

  2. 2010–2013

    NASA fellowship and ASU move

    In 2010, NASA selects her for an Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship for a project on self-replication in prebiotic chemical reaction-diffusion networks. In 2012, she coauthors “The Algorithmic Origins of Life” with Paul C. W. Davies; the paper proposes that information gains causal influence over matter as life emerges. She joins ASU in 2013 and builds an interdisciplinary research program on life's origins.

  3. 2015

    A phase-transition model

    In 2015, she coauthors a model in which replicators recycle finite resources and selection drives a transition from non-life to life. The model tracks the transition with mutual information between replicators and their environment.

  4. 2019

    AI and consciousness

    In 2019, her ASU research team works on AI and consciousness alongside life's origins, collective behavior, information in biology, and planetary life and biosignatures.

  5. 2021

    An award and biosignatures

    In 2021, she receives the Stanley L. Miller Early Career Award from ISSOL for her contributions to origins-of-life research. She coauthors the Nature Communications paper “Identifying molecules as biosignatures with assembly theory and mass spectrometry.”

  6. 2023

    Assembly theory and a Polymath

    In 2023, she coauthors the Nature paper “Assembly theory explains and quantifies selection and evolution,” which introduces assembly as a measure of the causation needed to produce an ensemble of objects. Schmidt Sciences names her a 2023 Schmidt Science Polymath at Arizona State University.

  7. 2024

    Life as No One Knows It

    In August 2024, she publishes “Life as No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's Emergence.” The book argues for an experimentally testable theory to explain and classify life.

  8. As of October 2026

    ASU center leadership

    She becomes Deputy Director of the Beyond Center at ASU in 2016 and Associate Director of the ASU–Santa Fe Institute Center for Biosocial Complex Systems in 2018. As of October 2026, she is a professor in ASU's School of Earth and Space Exploration and continues in both roles. Her research includes artificial life, life detection and designing synthetic life.

Career

  1. Since 2018ASU–Santa Fe Institute Center for Biosocial Complex SystemsAssociate Director
  2. Since 2013Arizona State UniversityProfessor, Deputy Director
  3. 2017–2018Santa Fe Institute
  4. 2013–2018Blue Marble Space

Education

  1. 2010Dartmouth CollegePh.D.
  2. 2005Florida Institute of TechnologyB.S.
  3. 2003Cape Cod Community CollegeA.A.

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Exoplanet Biosignatures: A Review of Remotely Detectable Signs of Life2017 · 452 citations
  2. The algorithmic origins of life2013 · 213 citations
  3. Assembly theory explains and quantifies selection and evolution2023 · Nature · 181 citations
  4. The Astrobiology Primer v2.02016 · Astrobiology · 136 citations
  5. Exoplanet Biosignatures: Future Directions2018 · Astrobiology · 125 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Arizona State University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Arizona State University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Arizona State University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Arizona State University. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Sara Imari Walker yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Sara Walker | ASU Search search.asu.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Program | Astrobiology astrobiology.nasa.gov. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. The Algorithmic Origins of Life arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. The Emergence of Life as a First Order Phase Transition arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. ISAL Board Elections 2019: Candidate Statements alife.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Sara Walker Awarded Stanley L. Miller Early Career Award | News | Astrobiology astrobiology.nasa.gov. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Assembly theory explains and quantifies selection and evolution | Nature nature.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Sara Imari Walker - Schmidt Sciences schmidtsciences.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. Life as No One Knows It by Sara Imari Walker: 9780593191897 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books penguinrandomhouse.com. Checked 20 October 2026.