I’m an engineer by education, and environmental justice geographer by training, generating data-driven actionable insights about the environmental burdens experienced by marginalized identities in the United States. My current work focuses on communities impacted by incarceration. Currently, I'm a Baker Endowed Postdoctoral Research Associate in Climate Change and Human Resiliency at the University of Arizona.

In 2024, I completed my PhD in the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In my dissertation, I employed a multi-method approach applying satellite-derived data to research the distribution of environmental hazards in carceral landscapes and co-design geospatial technologies to support environmental justice advocacy. Prior to beginning my PhD, I completed a Masters (2020) in the MIT Media Lab. My Masters thesis focused on applying remote sensing, low-cost sensors, drone data and community-centered design techniques to invasive plant species management in West Africa. Before arriving at MIT, I completed a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University (2018).

As a Black daughter of immigrants, I am often few and far in between in the academic spaces I occupy. Because of this experience, I maintain a longstanding commitment to creating more equitable realities for people of color and other marginalized identities in and out of the academy.

Contact me at ufuoma@media.mit.edu .