Merritt Moore is a professional ballet dancer and physicist. Merritt has danced with the Zurich Ballet, Boston Ballet, English National Ballet, London Contemporary Ballet Theatre and Norwegian National Ballet Company. She graduated with honours in physics from Harvard, and with a PhD in Atomic and Laser Physics from Oxford University.

Merritt was awarded Forbes 30 under 30, as well as Top Ten College Women by Glamour Magazine, and listed as the "Top 5 Inspiring women in science you need to know". She is featured in "Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls" vol 2, alongside inspiring women such as Oprah, Angela Merkel, and JK Rowling. She was one of the 12 selected astronaut candidates, out of thousands of applicants, to undergo rigorous astronaut selection on BBC Two "Astronauts: Do you have what it takes?", and she continues to pursue the dream of becoming an astronaut, while pursuing a professional ballet and physics career.

Merritt's motivation is to prove that the arts and sciences are not mutually exclusive. She works to inspire young girls and boys by showing them that there is no ‘standard’ personality or path for doing so. Merritt has been invited to give talks around the world such as a TEDx in Oxford, preshows at LA Music Center and schools from Hong Kong to Germany. She has created a science-art-sisters (@SASters_squad) to encourage young students who dream of pursuing both, and has been on the organizing committee for the Oxford Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics. She was awarded the Suzanne Farrell Award at Harvard and the Michael von Clemm Fellowship (award to only one Harvard student a year) to study at Oxford.