[5] Prior to his death when she was twelve years old, Tarter's father was an early inspiration who encouraged her curiosity when she resisted suggestions that she follow pursuits considered more appropriate for a girl and announced that she wanted to be an engineer.

[6][7][8] In her PhD dissertation, she coined the term "brown dwarf" while researching small-mass objects that fail to stably fuse hydrogen.

She worked with Bowyer on the radio-search project SERENDIP and created the corresponding backronym, "Search for Extraterrestrial Radio Emissions from Nearby Developed Intelligent Populations".

Tarter has published dozens of technical papers and lectures extensively both on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and the need for proper science education.

Tarter subsequently joined the Starmus Board of Directors, along with Israelian, astrophysicist and Queen founding guitarist Brian May, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, and others.

[27] Prior to Seticon II in 2012 Tarter addressed concerns about alien invasion, like those seen in science fiction films, in particular those expressed by Stephen Hawking.

Correlated with Hawking's reservations is his belief that humans should not attempt to broadcast signals in order to contact alien civilizations (Active SETI).