Science Keynote Speakers: Technology, Psychology, and More

Abdul El-Sayed

County Public Health Director | Author of Healing Politics and Medicare for All | Host of America Dissected

A great leader needs to find their unifying story—one that explains who they are to three key stakeholders: themselves, their team, and their future allies.

Ellen Ochoa

The first Latina in space | Former NASA Director

Astronaut, inventor, and NASA director, inspiring young people from every background to aim for the stars.

Alan Lightman

THEORETICAL PHYSICIST AND NOVELIST | INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF EINSTEIN'S DREAMS

How can we merge the arts and sciences to better understand humanity?

Danielle Wood

Director of MIT’s Space Enabled Research Lab | Assistant Prof. of Media Arts and Sciences

Space technology is imperative for sustainable development on Earth—and for the benefit of all.

Britt Wray

Director of the Special Initiative on Climate Change and Mental Health at Stanford | Author of Generation Dread

Wrestling through our climate change anxiety is the first step towards saving our planet—and ourselves.

David Kong

Director of MIT Media Lab’s Community Biotechnology Initiative

Making STEM fields inclusive is about maximizing human creativity and building a better world.

Nina Tandon

CEO and Co-Founder of EpiBone | TED Senior Fellow

How to revolutionize an industry, one cell at a time.

James Nestor

New York Times bestselling author of Breath

The key to leading happier, healthier lives? Better breathing.

Sean B. Carroll

Evolutionary Biologist | Author | Founder of Tangled Bank Studios | Executive Producer of Oscar-Nominated and Emmy-Winning Documentaries

The science that surrounds us is the story of our world. When we understand it, we can better understand ourselves.

Jessica Green

CEO of Phylagen, Inc. | TED Senior Fellow

An unlikely ally in fairness—the microbiome—may hold the key to a more transparent business world.

Jay Van Bavel

PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY AND NEURAL SCIENCE AT NYU | AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF The Power of Us

We gain so much more from working together than apart.

Nita Farahany

Author of The Battle For Your Brain | Legal scholar & ethicist | Director of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society

Technology is converging with our bodies, even our minds. What are the dilemmas and opportunities?

Heather Berlin

Cognitive neuroscientist | Host of PBS Nova's Your Brain

You are your brain, but you can also shape it—and become more creative, more productive, and the best version of yourself.

Jamil Zaki

Empathy expert | Author of The War for Kindness | Director of Stanford's Social Neuroscience Lab

Our empathy is a vital tool for workplace success—one that we can all strengthen through practice.

Jessica Nordell

Author of The End of Bias | Award-winning science and culture journalist

Bias has a real cost for your organization. Fighting it is your greatest superpower.

David Eagleman

One of the world’s foremost neuroscientists | Host of PBS’s The Brain | Host of Inner Cosmos, one of America's top ten podcasts

The AI future doesn't have to be a war, but a collaboration. As AI enhances our brains, we can unlock new realms of creativity.

David Wallace-Wells

Bestselling author of The Uninhabitable Earth | New York Times columnist

The most important driver of climate change is human action. We have our hands on those levers.

Carl Schoonover

Neuroscientist and Author of Portraits of the Mind

By looking, literally, inside the human brain, we can start to understand why we do what we do.

Ethan Kross

Award-Winning Expert on Self-Leadership, Mental Health, and The Conscious Mind | Bestselling Author of Chatter | Faculty lead at the Eisenberg Family Depression Center

Leading others starts with leading yourself. You can turn your inner voice from your worst critic into your best coach.

Laurence Steinberg

Leading Expert on Adolescence and the Parent-Child Relationship | Award-Winning Psychologist | Author of You and Your Adult Child

Being the parent of an adult child is more complicated than ever. But you can learn and adapt—and grow with your child.

Tracy Dennis-Tiwary

Bestselling author of Future Tense | Clinical psychologist and researcher | Digital health technology entrepreneur

Anxiety may feel bad, but it’s actually good for us—and for our productivity, creativity, and wellbeing.

Cassie Holmes

Expert in behavioral decision-making | Author of Happier Hour | UCLA professor

When we treat our time as a precious resource, we gain purpose, motivation, and happier lives.

Laura Huang

Distinguished Professor at Northeastern University | Faculty Director of Women's Entrepreneurship Initiative | Author of Edge

Are you looking for an edge to help you succeed? Guess what—you've already got one.

Kristin Neff

Author of Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself | Co-founder of the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion

Self-compassion isn’t just hearts and flowers—it’s an empirically proven practice.

Katy Milkman

Wharton Professor | Choiceology podcast host | Bestselling author of How to Change

The world has changed overnight. Learn the science-based blueprint for how to change with it.

Radhika Dirks

CEO & Co-Founder of XLabs and Ribo | One of Forbes’ 30 Women in AI to Watch | Artificial Intelligence Pioneer

Generative AI is changing the tech infrastructure of the world. Your biggest dreams—your most ambitious moonshots—are closer than ever before.

Kate Crawford

Professor | Author of Atlas of AI | Leading scholar of AI and society

We’re at a critical crossroads in the spread of AI. We can use it to oppress and exploit, or we can chart a course towards a more just and sustainable future.

Steven Pinker

One of the world's top public intellectuals | Author of Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why it Matters and Enlightenment Now | Harvard Professor

The world is getting better, not worse. The Enlightenment ideals of reason and science are a major reason why.

Jared Diamond

Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, Collapse, and Upheaval

Nations and individuals share the same techniques to survive a crisis—and thrive beyond it.

Margot Lee Shetterly

Author of Hidden Figures: the #1 New York Times bestseller and hit film

A greater diversity of voices in science, in the STEM fields, is key to the future of American innovation.

Science

Lavin’s science speakers illuminate our understanding of the world—without their groundbreaking work, our view of the planet, and of ourselves, is diminished. These speakers connect their discoveries to our everyday lives.