Danielle Wood

Assistant Professor of Media Arts and Sciences; Assistant Professor (Joint) of Aeronautics and Astronautics
  • Space Enabled

Office Hours: Professor Wood holds office hours regularly as a virtual gathering for group discussion. MIT community members may subscribe to the email list for weekly announcements about office hours here: https://mailman.mit.edu:444/mailman/listinfo/wood_officehours. If you have follow up questions or you do not have an MIT email address, email Prof Wood’s Assistant, Alessandra Davy-Falconi for information about office hours at space-enabledadmin@media.mit.edu.

Biography: Professor Danielle Wood is as an Associate 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. Professor Wood serves at MIT as the Faculty Lead for African and African Diaspora Studies. Within the Media Lab, Prof. Wood the founding director of the Space Enabled Research Group which seeks to advance justice in Earth's complex systems using designs enabled by space. The research of Space Enabled designs systems that use tools from space to promote sustainability on Earth and designs approaches to support sustainability in Space.

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. Professor 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. Professor is a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics. In this role, Prof Wood co-chairs the IAA Space Traffic Management Committee and is a co-editor for the space journal Acta Astronautica. Professor Wood has served multiple times as a Private Sector Advisor to the U.S. Delegation for the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Prof Wood has been honored with the National Science Foundation's CAREER grant, selection as a Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst and induction into the Black Women's Executive Leadership Fellowship.