Former Oregon State University professor reflects on trip to deepest spot on planet

In July 2022, oceanographer Dawn Wright made history by becoming the first Black person to dive to the deepest known spot on the planet. Victor Vescovo, a former Naval officer, entrepreneur and explorer, invited Wright to accompany him on the expedition to descend more than six-and-a-half miles to Challenger Deep in the western Pacific Ocean.  Wright is the chief scientist at Esri, a California-based company that develops mapping software. Wright used the occasion of her sixth deep sea dive to successfully test and operate a sonar instrument specially designed to withstand the crushing pressure found at Challenger Deep.     

Wright is currently a courtesy professor at Oregon State University’s College of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. She was on faculty as a tenured professor at OSU for 17 years until 2011. She joins us to talk about her expedition to Challenger Deep, which will be the focus of a lecture that she is scheduled to give on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at the OSU campus in Corvallis. Advance registration is required to attend the free lecture online or in-person. 

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