Geoffrey Notkin

Geoffrey Notkin
Notkin at the rim of Meteor Crater in Flagstaff, Arizona
Born Geoffrey Notkin
(1961-02-01) February 1, 1961
New York City, New York, U.S.
Education School of Visual Arts
(BFA)
Occupation Actor, Science Writer, Musician, Photographer
Years active 1977–present
Known for Meteorite Men
STEM Journals
Website geoffnotkin.com

Geoffrey Notkin (born February 1, 1961) is an American actor, author, and entrepreneur. Notkin is known as one of the hosts of Meteorite Men, a documentary reality television series from Science Channel, which ran for three seasons.[1] Notkin is also on the National Space Society Board of Governors and is a long-time member of The Explorer's Club.[2] In 2013, Notkin's Twitter account was nominated for a Shorty Award, honoring the best in social media. [3] Notkin has also been interviewed on The Today Show, Coast to Coast, and NASA Edge TV. Notkin is regular special guest speaker at TusCon, an intimate science-fiction, fantasy, and horror convention held annually in Tucson, Arizona.[4]

Early life

Map of Surrey


Notkin was born in New York City, New York, but spent his childhood in and around London, England.[5] Notkin also spent several of his formative years in Purley, Surrey and attended school in Croydon and St John’s Wood.[6]

Notkin credits his father, an amateur astronomer, for his interest in space and meteorites.[7] Notkin left England at age 19 and lived in New York City, later attending New York City's School of Visual Arts where he studied under renowned cartoonists Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman[8]. Notkin eventually became the editor of Will Eisner’s Gallery of New Comics for SVA.[9]

After graduating college, Notkin worked at RAW Books and Graphics for owners Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly.[10] Notkin later became a production assistant to Art Spiegelman while he was creating his graphic novel, Maus, for which Spiegelman later won the Pulitzer Prize. Notkin also inspired one of Spiegelman’s Garbage Pail Kids, "Deaf Geoff."[11]

Notkin also worked as a geologist for a year with an American oil exploration company based in London.[12]

Career

Music

In 1976, at age 15, Notkin attended his first concert with childhood friend Neil Gaiman, Lou Reed on his Rock 'n' Roll Heart tour, for which he attributes his love of music. In 1977, age sixteen, Notkin was the drummer for a punk rock band, Ex-Execs, whose members included Graham K. Smith, Al Kingsbury, and Gaiman. The lead character in Gaiman's short story, which has since been adapted to film, How to Talk to Girls at Parties, was inspired by Notkin.[13]

As part of London's and New York's punk rock scene, Notkin performed at The Rock Garden in Convent Garden, the Fulham Greyhound, CBGB, The Stone Pony, and The Knitting Factory.[14] Notkin remained a professional musician for over twenty years and worked with many artists, among them singer-songwriter Lach, with whom he formed a band called Proper iD[15], drummer Billy Ficca of Television, and Anne Husick of Band of Susans. [16] Notkin appeared on four albums with Lach, including Blang! in 1997, produced by Richard Barone, which Billy Ficca also appeared on.[17] Other albums Notkin performed on are:

  • Contender (1989)[18]
  • Kids Fly Free (2001) [19]
  • Lach Today (2004)[20]

Aerolite Meteorites, Inc.

In 2005, Notkin established Aerolite Meteorites, an international meteorite company offering a wide range of products, from entry-level to museum quality specimens.[21] Aerolite has supplied a genuine iron meteorite for use in The Wolverine (2013), though footage of the meteorite was ultimately cut from the film. Aerolite also supplied an iron meteorite weighing 88 pounds (40 kg) as a birthday present for Sting.[22]

Notkin and his company, Aerolite Meteorites, are also supporters of Beads of Courage, a Tucson-based charity that aims to provide supportive arts-based care programs for children coping with serious illness. Notkin is a Carry a Bead celebrity participant and carried handcrafted beads with him while filming episodes for STEM Journals.[23]

Meteorite Men


Notkin co-hosted the critically acclaimed Discovery Channel show Meteorite Men with Steve Arnold, a fellow meteorite hunter. The show ran for three season and shot episodes in 11 countries, including Chile, Sweden, Poland, and Australia.[24]

Arnold and Notkin first met via email correspondence before embarking together on a meteorite hunting expedition in the Atacama Desert in Chile in 1997.[25] Notkin’s written account of this trip was published in two parts in distinguished mathematician and meteorite specialist Joel Schiff’s ‘’Meteorite’’ magazine in May, 1998 and August, 1998.[26]

Meteorite Men won two bronze Telly Awards for Season 1 and Season 2.[27]

In Spaceflight

In 2012, Notkin hand-selected a meteorite to be donated by his company, Aerolite Meteorites Inc., as a part of the first place trophy for the third annual Student NewSpace Business Plan Competition, which took place at the SpaceVision conference, organized by SEDS-USA.[28]

In 2013, Notkin was named “Stellar Partner of the Year” by Challenger Space Center Arizona for his work in supporting STEM education programs at the Center, as well as for his exhibit, “They Came From Outer Space,” which was featured in the main exhibit room at the Space Center for two years.[29]

On November 14, 2015 Notkin gave a TEDx Talk at Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland titled Meteorites: Life, Death, and Hope on Earth.[30]

In 2015, Notkin emceed the regional edition of NASA FameLab, a global competition featuring early career scientists with the intent to nurture the skills necessary to communicate science-related topics to a public audience. The competition was held in Arizona at Phoenix Comicon 2015.[31]

Notkin holds a position on the Board of Governors of the National Space Society and is often a keynote speaker at the International Space Development Conference, an annual spaceflight event hosted by the NSS.[32] He is also writes a column for Ad Astra magazine, the official publication of the NSS, titled "Throwing Pebbles at the Sky."[33]

In addition to holding a position on the Board of Governors of the NSS, Notkin also serves on the Board of Directors of the Astrosociology Research Institute and as an advisor to Deep Space Industries.[34] Notkin is also currently involved with Megafonzie, a new multi-platform science network.[35]

Asteroid 132904, discovered at Mount Palomar in California by astrophysicist and fellow meteorite specialist Robert Mason, was named “Notkin” in honor of his work in science education.[36]

Notkin has participated in several spaceflight events and conferences, notably Space Rocks. The pilot event took place on April 22nd, 2018 at the O2 Arena in London and celebrated advances in spaceflight and the art, music, and culture they inspire. Space Rocks won Best Event at the 2018 Progressive Music Awards, hosted by Prog Magazine.[37]

Notkin is also involved with Taking Up Space, an organization dedicated to expanding educational and vocational opportunities for Native American girls by keeping them interested in STEM fields and ultimately sending them to Space Camp. In 2018, Notkin was the emcee for a fundraising event held in Tucson, Arizona, featuring guitarist Gabriel Ayala.

Other spaceflight events with which Notkin has been associated include:

  • Star Stuff
  • Spacefest
  • AZ SciTech Festival
  • Planetary Defense Conference

Film & Television

Year Title Credited as Notes Ref.
Writer Director Producer Role
1987 Arena Himself ”Of Cats and Mice” TV series documentary [38]
2001 The Impressionists Himself TV mini-series documentary [39]
2006 Cash & Treasures Himself TV series [40]
2007 Wired Science Himself ”Face Reader", episode #1.4 [41]
How Earth Made Us Himself Documentary [42]
2009 How the Earth Was Made Himself "Asteroids" [43]
Radio Free Albemuth Associate Producer Film adaptation [44]
2010 American Chopper: The Series Himself "Meteorite Men Bike" [45]
2009-2012 Meteorite Men Host TV series [46]
2013 Spacing Out! Himself "A Redefined Habitable Zone" [47]
NASA Edge Himself "Planetary Defense" [48]
Ancient Aliens Himself "Mysterious Relics" [49]
2013-2015 The STEM Journals Host TV series [50]
2016 Neil Gaiman: Dream Dangerously Executive Producer Himself, art department Documentary [51]
2017 Action Scientist Asteroid Day Diary Himself Video documentary short [52]
2018 Revenge of Zoe Producer and Music Supervisor Customer #7 Feature film [53]
2018 First to the Moon: The Story of Apollo 8 Producer Documentary [54]

Books

Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes Reference
2011 Meteorite Hunting: How to Find Treasure From Space Stanegate Press 9780984754847 Meteorite Hunting: How to Find Treasure From Space won a Bronze Independent Publisher's (IPPY) Award in 2012. [55] [56]
2012 Rock Star: Adventures of a Meteorite Man Stanegate Press 978-0984754823 [57]
2015 My Incredibly Strange and Amazing Real-Life Adventures in the World of Comic Books Stanegate Press 978-0984754878 Illustrations by Roman Casillas [58]

Other Publications

Notkin has also written articles for digital and print international publications, including:

  • Geology.com[59]
  • Sky & Telescope[60]
  • Meteorite magazine [61]
  • MeteoriteBlog.org[62]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Meteorite Men Official Site". Meteorite Men. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  2. ↑ "National Space Society Governor Geoff Notkin Biography". National Space Society. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  3. ↑ "The #Science Shorty Award". Shorty Awards. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  4. ↑ TusCon 45 https://tusconscificon.com/. Retrieved 3 October 2018. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ "Geoff Notkin". Coast to Coast. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  6. ↑ Howes, Nick. "Meet The Meteorite Men". Astronomy Now. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  7. ↑ "Meet the Crew: Action Scientist Geoff Notkin". Space Rocks. European Space Agency. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  8. ↑ Ruskin, Zach. "How John Cameron Mitchell and Neil Gaiman Infused Their Sci-Fi Movie with a Punk Rock Spirit". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  9. ↑ Andelman, Bob (2015). Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. TwoMorrows Publishing. pp. 151–152. ISBN 9781605490618. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  10. ↑ Kartalopoulos, Bill. "A RAW History: The Magazine". Indy Magazine. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  11. ↑ Andelman, Bob (2015). Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. TwoMorrows Publishing. pp. 151–152. ISBN 9781605490618. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  12. ↑ "Meteorite People". Meteorite Times. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  13. ↑ Gardner, Jeff. "Far Back, Far Our". Tucson Weekly. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  14. ↑ McNamee, Gregory. "Tucson-based meteorite hunter Geoff Notkin is a man of parts". Foothills News. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  15. ↑ Huey, Steve. "Lach". All Music. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  16. ↑ "Meet the Crew: Action Scientist Geoff Notkin". Space Rocks. European Space Agency. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  17. ↑ "Blang!". Bandcamp. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  18. ↑ "Contender". Bandcamp. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  19. ↑ "Kids Fly Free". Bandcamp. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  20. ↑ "Lach Today". Bandcamp. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  21. ↑ Major, Jason. "Selling Rocks from Outer Space: an Interview with 'Meteorite Man' Geoff Notkin". Universe Today. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  22. ↑ "Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  23. ↑ "Moon Dust Bead". Beads of Courage. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  24. ↑ "Chelyabinsk, "Meteor-Wrongs," Adventures, And More With Meteorite Man Geoff Notkin". Spaceflight Insider. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  25. ↑ "Hunting for Space Rocks: Q&A with Geoff Notkin of 'Meteorite Men'". Space.com. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  26. ↑ "Meteorite People". Meteorite Times. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  27. ↑ "Meteorite Men Official Episode Guide". Meteorite Men Official Site. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  28. ↑ "Entries Sought for NewSpace Student Business Plan Competition". Moon and Back. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  29. ↑ Tobin, James. "Meteorite Hunting Book Review". Meteorite Times Magazine. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  30. ↑ "Theme: Next?". TED. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  31. ↑ "The People of FameLab". FameLab. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  32. ↑ "National Space Society Governor Geoff Notkin Biography". National Space Society. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  33. ↑ "Ad Astra". National Space Society. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  34. ↑ "Rock Star: Adventures of a Meteorite Man". Wolfman Productions. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  35. ↑ "Experts". Megafonzie. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  36. ↑ "Chelyabinsk, "Meteor-Wrongs," Adventures, and More with Meteorite Man Geoff Notkin". Spaceflight Insider. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  37. ↑ "SPACE ROCKS LONDON WINS BEST EVENT AT THE PROG AWARDS!". Space Rocks Official. European Space Agency. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  38. ↑ ""Arena" Of Cats and Mice". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  39. ↑ "The Impressionists". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  40. ↑ "Cash & Treasures". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  41. ↑ "Wired Science". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  42. ↑ "How the Earth Was Made". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  43. ↑ "How the Earth Was Made". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  44. ↑ "Radio Free Albemuth". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  45. ↑ "Meteorite Men". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  46. ↑ "Meteorite Men". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  47. ↑ "A Redefined Habitable Zone". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  48. ↑ "Nasa Edge: Planetary Defense". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  49. ↑ "Ancient Aliens: Mysterious Relics". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  50. ↑ "The STEM Journals". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  51. ↑ "Neil Gaiman: Dream Dangerously". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  52. ↑ "Action Scientist Asteroid Day Diary". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  53. ↑ "Revenge of Zoe". IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  54. ↑ "About". Geoff Notkin. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  55. ↑ "2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards Results" (PDF). Independent Publisher. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  56. ↑ Notkin, Geoff. "Books". Geoffnotkin.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  57. ↑ Notkin, Geoff. "Books". Geoffnotkin.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  58. ↑ Notkin, Geoff. "Books". Geoffnotkin.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  59. ↑ Notkin, Geoffrey. "What Are Meteorites?". Geology.com. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  60. ↑ Notkin, Geoffrey. "Surface Characteristics of Iron Meteorites". Sky & Telescope. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  61. ↑ Schiff, Joel. Meteorite Times http://www.meteorite-times.com/Back_Links/2004/June/Now_in_Meteorite.htm. Retrieved 29 August 2018. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  62. ↑ "Meteorite Men Recommended Links". Meteorite Men. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
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