Diversity Speaker Series

Date and Time for this Past Event

• Saturday, Apr 23, 2022  4pm - 5:15pm

Location

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Details

Community members are invited on April 23 to the City of San Luis Obispo’s new Diversity Speaker Series, featuring MIT Aeronautics Professor Dr. Danielle Wood. This event is in partnership with the Office of Sustainability and co-sponsored by Cal Poly’s Office of University Diversity and Inclusion, and The Diversity Coalition. 

Dr. Wood’s presentation is titled, “Space Enabled Earth Justice: Using Space Technology to Improve Life.” She will discuss how MIT’s media lab applies space technology to projects that advance social justice here on Earth.  

“We are incredibly fortunate to have Dr. Danielle Wood visit San Luis Obispo to discuss this timely topic,” said Beya Makekau, the City of San Luis Obispo’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Manager. “Dr. Wood is a Black woman championing efforts for the global good in a male-dominated aeronautics and astronautics field. She is also the faculty lead for African and African Diaspora Studies and centers equity and access in her work. We invite the community to this event to learn how she and the MIT Media Lab team use innovation and technology to advance justice here on Earth.”  

Professor Danielle Wood serves as an Assistant Professor in the Program in Media Arts & Sciences and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prof. Wood's background includes satellite design, earth science applications, systems engineering, and technology policy. In her research, Prof. Wood applies these skills to design innovative systems that harness space technology to address development challenges around the world. Prior to serving as faculty at MIT, Professor Wood held positions at NASA Headquarters, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Aerospace Corporation, Johns Hopkins University, and the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs. Prof. Wood studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she earned a PhD in engineering systems, SM in aeronautics and astronautics, SM in technology policy, and SB in aerospace engineering.