SPEAKER BIOS
Dr. Harriet Bulkeley
Harriet Bulkeley FAcSS FBA undertook her PhD at the University of Cambridge and holds joint appointments as Professor in the Department of Geography, Durham University, and at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University. Her research focuses on environmental governance and the politics of climate change, energy, nature and sustainable cities and has been included in the Highly Cited Researchers list of the top 1% of researchers internationally four times since 2016. Harriet coordinated the H2020 NATURVATION project from 2016 – 2021 examining the role of urban innovation with nature-based solutions for sustainable development. She has undertaken commissioned research for the UK Government, European Commission, NGOs, UN-Habitat, the OECD and the World Bank. In 2014, Harriet was awarded the King Carl XVI Gustaf’s Professorship in Environmental Science and a Visiting Professorship at Lund University, Sweden and in 2018 was granted the Back Award by the Royal Geographical Society in recognition of the policy impact of her work on climate change. In 2019, she was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences and as a Fellow of the British Academy.
Mr. Jack Dangermond
A landscape architect by training, Jack Dangermond founded Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) in 1969 with a vision that computer mapping and analysis could help design a better future. Under Dangermond's leadership, that vision has continued to guide Esri in creating cutting-edge GIS and Geodesign technologies used in every industry to make a difference worldwide.
Dangermond fostered the growth of Esri from a small research group to an organization recognized as the world leader in GIS software development. Esri employs more than 4,000 people worldwide; many who shared his passion for GIS in the early days are still with the company and remain dedicated to helping our users be successful.
Dangermond’s vision for Esri goes beyond building the leading GIS technology. He keeps the company mindful of global challenges and the needs of specific industries. The ongoing drive is to engineer ArcGIS to aggregate and integrate increasing quantities of data, to visualize and analyze the data to gain holistic understanding, and to help individuals and organizations make impactful evidence-based decisions.
Hon. Terri Sewell
Congresswoman Terri Sewell is the first Black woman elected to Congress from Alabama, serving in her sixth term representing the 7th district. Congresswoman Sewell sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, the Steering and Policy Committee, and serves as Chief Deputy Whip. She is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the New Democrat Coalition; Co-Chair of the Voting Rights Caucus; Vice-Chair of the HBCU Caucus; and Co-Chair of the Rural Caucus. Sewell is a fierce advocate for job creation and economic opportunity. Representing Alabama’s Civil Rights District, she is a champion for advancing the legacy of the Foot Soldiers who marched for justice. She is the chief sponsor of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act which passed the House in August. Sewell was the first Black woman partner in the Birmingham office of Maynard, Cooper & Gale, and one of Alabama’s only Black public finance lawyers. She was the first Black valedictorian of Selma High School and a graduate of Princeton University, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School. A life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, she is the daughter of the late Coach Andrew Sewell and Nancy Gardner Sewell, Selma’s first Black City Councilwoman.
Dr. Kyle Whyte
Kyle Whyte is George Willis Pack Professor of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan, teaching in the environmental justice specialization. His research addresses environmental justice, focusing on moral and political issues concerning climate policy and Indigenous peoples, the ethics of cooperative relationships between Indigenous peoples and science organizations, and problems of Indigenous justice in public and academic discussions of food sovereignty, environmental justice, and the anthropocene. He is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Kyle currently serves on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, the Management Committee of the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, and the Board of Directors of the Pesticide Action Network North America. He has served as an author for the U.S. Global Change Research Program, including on the National Climate Assessment, and for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II. He is a former member of the Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science in the U.S. Department of Interior and of two environmental justice work groups convened by past state governors of Michigan.
Dr. Danielle Wood
Professor Danielle Wood serves as an Assistant Professor in Media Arts & Sciences and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Within the MIT Media Lab, Prof. Wood leads the Space Enabled Research Group which seeks to advance justice in Earth's complex systems using designs enabled by space. Prof. Wood is a scholar of societal development with a background that 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.