KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 5, 2026 – Throughout her career, renowned international lawyer and scholar of planetary futures Timiebi Aganaba has conducted space governance research across five countries, examining how legitimacy, institutional design and strategic sovereignty shape humanity’s expansion beyond Earth.

Aganaba, also an assistant professor and founder of the Space Governance Lab in the Arizona State University College of Global Futures’ School for the Future of Innovation in Society, will explore in her University of Rhode Island Honors Colloquium lecture. Her talk, titled “The Final Frontier is Not Space – It’s Trust”—on Tuesday, Oct. 13 will explain how society designs fair, inclusive systems for life on and beyond Earth.

Hosted by the Honors Program, URI’s premier lecture series examines the science of outer space. Aganaba will speak at 5:30 p.m. at Edwards Hall on the Kingston Campus as part of the fall colloquium series, “Interstellar Exploration: Journey Beyond Your Limits.” Aganaba’s talk will also be livestreamed on the colloquium’s website.

Through her research, public engagement and advisory work, Aganaba advances forward-looking approaches to responsible space exploration, resource stewardship and the ethical governance of emerging space infrastructures. She was previously a space industry consultant for the leading space analyst firm in Canada, where Timiebi led a pipeline of commercialization studies for the Canadian Space Agency and led the socio aspects of a socioeconomic assessment of the Canadian space sector.

Aganaba also serves as a senior global futures scientist with the Global Futures Laboratory. She previously served as an affiliate faculty with Arizona State’s Interplanetary Initiative and held a courtesy appointment at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.

Aganaba’s lecture will be followed on Oct. 20 by University of California physics professor Philip Lubin. A full roster of colloquium speakers and sponsors can be found on the Honors Colloquium website.

This year’s Honors Colloquium is led by the URI Department of Physics, bringing forth thought-provoking conversations that bridge cutting-edge science and the boundless imagination of science fiction. The series concludes in December with a lecture on achieving the impossible with outer space.

Hosted by the University’s Honors Program, the annual URI Honors Colloquium is free and open to the public. To see recordings of this year’s speakers, or past colloquiums, visit the Honors Colloquium Archives. Register online for more information and reminders for colloquium events or email urihonors@etal.uri.edu to be included on the Honors Colloquium mailing list.