Iris Wu

PhD Candidate

Science


Iris is a PhD student in the Department of History. Her research overlaps the history of statistics, the history of technology, and environmental history. These interests have culminated in her current focus on the history of global aviation. In particular, she seeks to understand the construction of “global” kinds of knowledge infrastructure, epistemic communities, and the material infrastructures in the case of aviation. She is especially interested in the ideologies and measures of environmental governance and statistical risk calculus embedded within these structures, which continue to shape and govern collective and individual life today. As a pilot herself, the daily interactions with the technological and bureaucractic infrastructures and philosophies of the aviation world serve as a huge source of inspiration and passion for her research.

Education

 B.A., Distinction in General Scholarship, Data Science, University of California, Berkeley, 2023.

Awards, Fellowships, and Grants

2026    Edward Hildebrand Graduate Research Fellowship, Canadian Studies Program, UC Berkeley

2026    National Science Fund Travel Grant,  History of Science Society

2026    Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, GSI Teaching and Resource Center, UC Berkeley 

2025    France-Berkeley Grant: “Mathematics in Totalitarian Contexts”, Institute of European Studies, UC Berkeley

2025    Graduate Student Training Grant, Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, UC Berkeley

2025    Summer Language Training Fellowship, Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies

2019, 2022     Cal Alumni Leadership Scholarship, UC Berkeley

2019, 2021, 2022     University of California, Berkeley Dean’s List

Selected Presentation & Talks

July 2026, Presenter, “Statistics under Scarcity - Jerzy Neyman and the Design of Hypothesis Testing, 1923-1933,” European Society for the History of Science/History of Science Society Joint Meeting, Edinburgh

June 2026, Guest Lecturer, "Statistical Narratives," Chemistry 195: Science, Public Policy, and Impact, UC Berkeley