Kiri Wagstaff works at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, as a researcher in the Machine Learning and Instrument Autonomy Group, investigating ways that machine learning can be used to increase the autonomy of space missions. From 2013 to 2017, she also served as a tactical planner and uplink lead for the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. She’s also an Associate Research Professor at Oregon State University, where she is teaching classes in Computer Science and doing research on competency-aware machine learning.

Kiri is a prolific researcher and an expert learner. Her career is an example in how awesome life can be when you love going to work and love the challenges you get to tackle every day. Talking to her made me feel much more optimistic about getting to shape my own research career, if I decide to go down that route, and I hope our conversation will leave you with a similar feeling.

Links:

Read your Kindle highlights: https://read.amazon.com/notebook

Kiri’s website: https://www.wkiri.com/

Music:

Changing World by Ben Beiny www.premiumbeat.com