Danielle Wood

Danielle Wood is an associate professor at MIT in the Program in Media Arts & Sciences and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics.  She also serves as the faculty lead for African and African Diaspora Studies. Within the Media Lab, she is the founding director of the Space Enabled Research Group which seeks to advance justice in Earth's complex systems using designs enabled by space. 

Professor Wood's background includes satellite design, earth science applications, systems engineering, and technology policy. Prior to her MIT faculty appointments, she held positions at NASA Headquarters, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Aerospace Corporation, Johns Hopkins University, and the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs. 

An MIT alumna, she earned a PhD in engineering systems, an SM in aeronautics and astronautics, an SM in technology policy, and an SB in aerospace engineering. Professor Wood is a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics. In this role, she co-chairs the IAA Space Traffic Management Committee and is a co-editor for the space journal Acta Astronautica. She has served multiple times as a Private Sector Advisor to the U.S. Delegation for the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. She has been honored with the National Science Foundation's CAREER Award grant, selection as a Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst, and induction into the Black Women's Executive Leadership Fellowship. She is a 2024-2026 JustTech Fellow of the Social Science Research Council.