Dawn Wright joined Esri as Chief Scientist in October 2011, after 17 years as a Professor of Geography and Oceanography at Oregon State University. As Esri Chief Scientist, she is responsible for strengthening the scientific foundation for Esri software and services, while representing Esri to the international scientific community. Dawn also remains on the faculty of Oregon State University. Over the past 30 years she has developed and participated in several initiatives around the world to map, analyze, and preserve ocean terrains and ecosystems, and was elected to both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, as well as the American Academy of Arts & Sciences for this work. Aside from GIS, Dawn is very much into road cycling, apricot green tea gummy bears, 18th-century pirates, her puppy Riley, and SpongeBob Squarepants.