NSB Logo Dr. Shawna Pandya Dr. Shawna Pandya

Dr. Shawna Pandya

Speaker Exclusive

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Physician, Aquanaut and Scientist-Astronaut Candidate

For Dr. Shawna Pandya​, life has just been one adventure after another, and she is just getting started. Armed with backgrounds in neuroscience, space, entrepreneurship and medicine, Dr. Pandya has led a life devoted to technology, innovation, social development and, of course, adventure!

Keynote Speeches

Virtual Keynotes & Webinars
Contact us for more information about this speaker & their virtual presentations. Click here for some of the most popular formats for virtual events.
Level Up with Shawna Pandya - New for 2024!

Shawna Pandya shares some of her insights on how she LevelsUp! based on her experiences in operational, extreme and dynamic environments. Her first example in 2024?  Tackling burn out, when you’re fresh off 320 hours of emergency room call…!

Key takeaways to help you LevelUp in 2024:

  1. Making things better for yourself, even with the little things.
  2. Surrounding yourself with good people who will tell you when you are about to do something unreasonable.
  3. Recognizing your choice or decision to be in a particular situation.
On Success, Failure, Resilience & Pushing the Limits

Disruption is the new normal. Unpredictable situations including variants in the COVID-19 pandemic have forced organizations to rapidly adapt to new realities. Teams are now faced with new challenges around productivity, technological capabilities, communications, crisis management, mental health and more.

What can critical situations and extreme environments teach us about adaptability in times of uncertainty? What can we learn from our successes and our failures in this journey?

From simulated space missions underwater, to commanding a simulated Mars mission, to her work as a physician during COVID, Dr. Pandya draws on a unique mix of experiences to show audiences how to thrive in times of uncertainty. She shares key skills when it comes to cultivating resilience, setting goals, and optimizing performance – as an individual, and as a team.

Audiences will embark upon a riveting online journey into the upsides of isolation, and how these lessons will help us stay productive during extreme situations. Shawna Pandya helps audiences go from isolated to inspired, and walk away with insights that they can apply to their daily operations.

Key takeaways from this presentation include:

  • Optimizing success in high-pressure environments
  • Leadership and teamwork techniques to apply to tough situations
  • Bouncing back from failure
  • Cultivating resilience
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

If the 2020’s have taught us anything, it is that we still have a long way to go when it comes to equality. In this talk, Dr. Pandya shares her lessons from the medicine, technology and the space sectors, and shares insights on what it takes to build a diverse, equitable team that is designed to perform – and excel.

Leadership Lessons

Being a leader doesn’t mean being at the head of the pack barking out orders. It means stepping back and seeing how things play out and really knowing your team inside out. Because reaching goals includes enlisting others in a variety of roles, in addition to focus, organization, decision-making ability and commitment.

 

Education & STEM

From flying cars to 3D printers, the world is a fascinating place, and there is a role for everything and everyone who wants to contribute! In this talk, Dr. Pandya shares her experiences in the STEM fields, from space to medicine to technology, including her time at the International Space University, training as a physician in neurosurgery and general practice, to founding a company based on a challenge to positively impact 1 billion people in 10 years using accelerating technologies, and training as a citizen-scientist astronaut. She delves into the programs and platforms that helped her get to where she is today, sharing insights and lessons learned along the way.

Brain Science & Emotional Intelligence 

Drawing from her experiences in medicine, space, Silicon Valley and martial arts, Dr. Pandya explores emotional intelligence as the mortar between the bricks; a key facet of nuanced leadership, crucial for building and leading effective teams and creating successful outcomes.

Technology & Entrepreneurship

The world we live in is changing at an exponential pace. Drawing off her experiences as a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and from her time at Singularity University, Dr. Pandya explores emerging trends and technologies, offering up tools and exercises fostering innovation, disruption, and ‘big-picture’ thinking.

BONUS - WEBINAR Example - Developing Resilience: Extreme Missions & Maximizing Potential
Shawna Pandya Webinar

Click to see Shawna Pandya Webinar *Start at 5:30 minutes

Disruption is the new normal. Unpredictable situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic have forced organizations to rapidly adapt to new realities. Teams are now faced with new challenges around productivity, technological capabilities, communications, crisis management, mental health and more. 

What can critical situations and extreme environments teach us about resilience in times of uncertainty? 

A speaker who has experienced real life on fake mars would know. Dr. Shawna Pandya has a growing resume in space research and bioastronautics. From simulated space missions underwater to commanding a simulated Mars mission to her work as a physician, Dr. Pandya draws on a unique mix of experiences to show audiences how to thrive in times of uncertainty. Audiences will embark upon a riveting online journey into the upsides of isolation, and how these lessons will help us stay resilient and productive during extreme situations. Audiences will go from isolated to inspired, and walk away with insights  they can apply to their daily operations towards their own resilience and productivity. 

Key Takeaways

  • Leadership and teamwork techniques to use in suboptimal times.
  • How to build psychological resilience and coping skills.
  • Innovative approaches to optimize productivity and operations in times of uncertainty. 

Audience reviews:

  • Dr. Shawna was very well received at the event. Her talk was very inspirational, and the perfect way to close out the conference, after a day of education for the attendees. From what I could see, everyone in the room was in rapt attention as she spoke, and people had some great questions at the end … and lots of selfies were taken with her at the close of everything. I think she was the perfect fit. - Event Planner, PMI – Northern Alberta
  • She is deeply insightful, engaging, entertaining, and an outstanding presenter. Her workshop interaction skills are amazing! I recommend her very highly.

    - Course Coordinator, Technology and the Future of Medicine Course at the University of Alberta
  • Absolutely loved having her at our annual conference. She is amazing!

    - Chief Creative Officer, Planetree
 

Speaker Biography

Dr. Shawna Pandya is passionate about the two ‘extremes’ of humanity – surviving and thriving. She’s interested in furthering technological innovation and human knowledge, and tackling humanity’s grandest challenges to affect positive social change. 

After leaving her career in neurosurgery she went from repeatedly telling herself “I am an absolute disgrace,” to gaining a new sense of being.

In her talks, Dr. Pandya talks passionately about resilience and the lifelong learning she came to embrace from her time with sociopaths, Navy SEALs, martial artists, medicine, astronauts, and from her father.

She successfully completed Scientist‐Astronaut Candidate training in 2015 with Project PoSSUM (Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere) and was part of the first crew to test a commercial spacesuit in zero‐gravity. 

In 2016, Dr. Pandya was named as prime crew for Project Poseidon, which aims to further ocean and space exploration, while setting a world record for “most days spent under the sea.” She also received the Global Women of Vision award in 2016.  

Preparing for space requires more than just knowledge — it involves an incredible amount of mental and physical agility. Outside of her work, Dr. Pandya continues to further develop these skills through martial arts. She holds a black belt in taekwondo, a sport she’s been practicing for over 15 years and she’s travelled to Thailand annually since 2015 to train in muay thai.