Woods Lecture Series: Dawn Wright
The Dive of a Lifetime to the Deepest Place on Earth
Dawn J. Wright, Ph.D., is Chief Scientist of the Environmental Systems Research Institute, a world-leading geographic information system software and spatial data science company. She is also courtesy professor of Geography & Oceanography at Oregon State University, and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Dr. Wright was the first Black female to dive to the deep ocean floor in a research submersible and the first Black person of any gender (and only the fifth woman) to dive nearly 7 miles to the deepest spot on the entire planet. Dr. Wright’s work has had a significant impact on research in seafloor and global terrestrial mapping, environmental conservation, and the development of integrated data management, interoperability, and infrastructure across conservation science.