Chief Scientist, ESRI

Dr. Dawn Wright is chief scientist of the Environmental Systems Research Institute (aka Esri), a world-leading geographic information system (GIS) software, research and development company. As chief scientist, Dr. Wright is charged with strengthening the scientific foundation for Esri software and services, while representing Esri to the national and international scientific community. She maintains an affiliated faculty appointment as Professor of Geography and Oceanography at Oregon State University. She has authored or co-authored more than 130 articles and six books on marine geographic information systems, hydrothermal activity and tectonics of mid-ocean ridges, and ocean informatics. Dr. Wright has participated in over 20 oceanographic research expeditions worldwide, including 10 legs of the Ocean Drilling Program, three dives in the deep submergence vehicle Alvin and twice in the Pisces V. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as a fellow of Stanford University's Leopold Leadership Program. Dr. Wright holds an Individual Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Physical Geography and Marine Geology from UCSB, an M.S. in Oceanography from Texas A&M, and a B.S. cum laude in Geology from Wheaton College (Illinois). Other interests include road cycling, 18th-century pirates, apricot green tea gummy bears, her dog Sally, and SpongeBob Squarepants.