The director of MIT’s Space Enabled research, Danielle Wood, presented at San Luis Obispo’s Diversity Speaker Series on Saturday to discuss how space technology can be used to improve justice on Earth.
Wood’s presentation, “Space Enabled Earth Justice: Using Space Technology to Improve Life” dove into how MIT’s media lap applies space technology to social justice projects, according to a San Luis Obispo City press release.
Wood is an assistant professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT and is director of the Space Enabled Research Group.
Many of the concepts Wood discussed in her presentation concern the human ability to use scientific tools and technologies, such as satellite communication, earth observation and navigation, to improve access to a variety of resources.
People can hear more about these ideas in Woods’s TED Talk, called, “6 space technologies we can use to improve life on Earth.”
“Everyone has a responsibility to think about how we make space accessible to everyone while also keeping it sustainable and protected for future generations,” Wood said in an email.
The event was held at the San Luis Obispo Library at 4 p.m. and is hosted by the City of San Luis Obispo in partnership with the Office of Sustainability and co-sponsored by The Diversity Coalition and Cal Poly’s Office of University Diversity and Inclusion.
Beya Makekau, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager for the City, said in an email that the Diversity Speaker Series “is intended to inspire community connection, dialogue, and educational learning rooted in cultural richness, innovative equity, and expansive inclusion.”
The series will take course over a large span of time, hosting a new speaker each quarter.
The goal of hosting these speakers is “to bring our community together to learn and grow from diverse speakers and topics that can inspire us, challenge us, and connect us,” Makekau said.
