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A cartographer, a composer, an archaeologist, a neurobiologist and an astrophysicist are among this year's MacArthur Fellows, one of the most prestigious cash awards given to "extraordinarily talented and creative individuals as an investment in their potential," according to the MacArthur Foundation. Each Fellow will receive a no-strings attached award of $800,000.

So how do you get one of these so-called "genius grants"'? You need to be nominated and vetted. It's a selection process that takes "many months and sometimes years," said Marlies Carruth, director of the MacArthur Fellows Program.

MacArthur Fellows might work in vastly different fields but they share certain attributes like creativity, risk-taking, optimism and perseverance. They are "thinkers and doers and dreamers," said Carruth.

The 2025 MacArthur Fellows are below; quotes about their work are from the MacArthur Foundation:

 "sheds light on tropical atmospheric dynamics that influence global weather patterns and phenomena such as tropical cyclones and monsoons."

 focused on marginalized communities, from migrant farmworkers to boarded-up towns across the United States. His work shows that "poverty is not an aberration but rather a defining feature of the American landscape." NPR 

 Black for his project "The Geography of Poverty" in 2018.

of New Orleans is an artist and filmmaker whose work explores "questions of justice, public memory, and cultural visibility." For the installation "

" (2019), Bradley interspersed footage from “Lime Kiln Club Field Day” (1915), believed to be the oldest surviving film with an all-Black cast, with vignettes she created of Black figures from the early 20th century. Bradley spoke with NPR about her 2021 Oscar-nominated documentary 

of Beacon, N.Y., is a composer, lyricist, playwright, vocalist and 

 (2024), Christian explores "the possibility for the sacred and spiritual in our modern world." NPR 

 Christian in 2012 about an experimental work she co-created about American capitalism.

of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is an 

 who brings "compassion, collaboration, and creative vision" to his work reducing the harms and deaths from drug use. Dasgupta told the news organization “

” he started analyzing overdose death data two decades ago when a close friend died of a heroin overdose.

of Columbia University in New York City, is an archaeologist focused on the coastal communities of southwest Madagascar. Douglass involves local residents in her 

, which "informs efforts to protect biodiversity hot spots while preserving the lifeways of those who live in them."

of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., is an astrophysicist whose 

 into all things about stars "has led to many discoveries —from overlooked dormant black holes in our galaxy to new classes of stars and coupled systems."

of Eddington, Maine, is an artist descended from a long line of Wabanaki basket makers. Using all-natural materials he harvests himself, 

 is "forging a singular aesthetic that blurs the boundaries between craft, design, and contemporary art." He was 

of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore is a political scientist whose 

 "advances scholars' understanding of what makes certain forms of civic participation more durable and impactful than others." She was 

Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church

of Chicago is a photographer and social justice artist who tells NPR her 

 uses "art, storytelling and community organizing to help the larger public learn about and confront the history of segregation, housing injustice and the ways in which Black neighborhoods have been devalued." Her current project is 

, developed in partnership with the Chicago Bungalow Association.

of Brown University in Providence, R.I., is a cultural anthropologist who 

 herself in the communities most affected by border security issues. She worked as a volunteer paramedic on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. She 

 with WYPR about "Exit Wounds," her book about the continuous flow of guns from the U.S. to Mexico.

 of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands is an evolutionary biologist who 

 the relationships between plants, fungi and other microbes, "one of the most important and widespread mutualisms on Earth." She 

of The University of Texas at Austin is a structural biologist who is considered one of the heroes of the pandemic. His 

 in quickly developing COVID-19 vaccines. He and his team are currently focused on "developing a universal vaccine that would be effective against all coronaviruses."

of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the traumas of war and displacement as well as resistance and resilience. His feature film "

The Unburied Sounds of a Troubled Horizon

" (2022), for example, tells the story of a woman who lives in an area of Vietnam heavily bombarded by the U.S. To help process the pain, she creates Alexander Calder-style sculptures out of bomb remnants. Nguyen exhibits the film next to his own artwork made from Vietnam bomb relics.

of Oakland, Calif., is a fiction writer whose novels, "

" are centered around the Native American experience, past and present, showing "the many ways historical trauma and dislocation can rupture the fabric of everyday life." Orange 

of Rockland, Maine, is a cartographer who 

 maps in collaboration with Indigenous communities "to resurface their history, knowledge, and presence throughout North America." Her current project is called 

 of the University of Wisconsin–Madison is a nuclear security specialist who has 

 past harms and potential risks of building, testing and storing nuclear weapons. On 

 website, "he and collaborators illustrate the widespread destruction that would be caused by a nuclear attack on the missile sites."

of Los Angeles and London is an interdisciplinary artist 

 on how cultural artifacts are held in museums and other institutional collections. Porras-Kim's work "poses powerful questions about the lives of objects, who shapes their preservation, and how their stories are told." She was 

of the University of California, Berkeley, is a neurobiologist and optometrist whose 

 is "laying the foundation for a more complete understanding of human vision and for treatments of debilitating eye diseases."

of Brooklyn, N.Y., is an improvising musician and composer who 

 from various musical genres to create a distinct sound using a "fearless and sophisticated approach." Here's a 

 of Taborn's 2021 album "Shadow Plays" on WHYY's Fresh Air.

of Stanford University in California is a chemical engineer 

 ways to recover valuable chemical resources from wastewater. For example, his electrochemical reactors can convert nitrogen in urine waste into ammonia-based products like fertilizer and house cleaner.

of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., is a 

 who is "expanding fundamental mathematical theory" and building connections with other scientific fields such as physics "with a curiosity-driven approach to research and willingness to collaborate across disciplines."

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A cartographer, a composer, a neurobiologist, and a novelist are among the recipients of this year's "Genius Grants." Each Fellow will receive a no-strings attached award of $800,000.

Thinkers, dreamers, doers: Here's who made the 2025 MacArthur Fellow list

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