Vincent Ialenti is an American government official and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

who studies the culture of nuclear energy and weapons waste organizations. He is the author of ''Deep Time Reckoning'', an anthropological exploration of how experts assessed the impact of Finland's

Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository The Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository is a deep geological repository for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel. It is near the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant in the municipality of Eurajoki, on the west coast of Finland. It will be the wo ...

on future ecosystems and civilizations. Ialenti works in the

U.S. Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear we ...

Office of Nuclear Energy The Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) is an agency of the United States Department of Energy which promotes nuclear power as a resource capable of meeting the energy, environmental, and national security needs of the United States by resolving techni ...

. He is also a Research Associate at

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt (Cal Poly Humboldt or Humboldt) is a public university in Arcata, California. It is one of three polytechnic universities in the California State University (CSU) system and the northernmost c ...

's Department of Environmental Studies. Prior to his federal service, Ialenti was a MacArthur Assistant Research Professor at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

Elliott School of International Affairs The Elliott School of International Affairs (known as the Elliott School or ESIA) is the professional school of international relations, foreign policy, and international development of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It is ...

and held fellowships at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

, The Berggruen Institute, and

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

's Society for the Humanities.

Biography

During the Biden Administration, Ialenti led the

's Consent-Based Siting Consortia: twelve project teams - drawn from academia, nonprofits, the private sector, and beyond - awarded $24m to facilitate public understanding of spent nuclear fuel management. From 2022-2024, he hosted a DOE webinar series on participatory governance, community engagement, and sociopolitical innovations for solving America's nuclear waste stalemate. Ialenti holds a MSc in "Law, Anthropology, and Society" from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Sociocultural Anthropology from

. At Cornell, he taught an interdisciplinary writing seminar called ''Nuclear Imagination: Technology and Worlds''. In 2017, he became the first anthropologist with a feature article in ''

Physics Today ''Physics Today'' is the membership magazine of the American Institute of Physics. First published in May 1948, it is issued on a monthly schedule, and is provided to the members of ten physics societies, including the American Physical Society. ...

'', the flagship publication of the

American Institute of Physics The American Institute of Physics (AIP) promotes science and the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies. Its corpora ...

. From 2017 to 2019, Ialenti conducted a field study exploring the political, economic, and organizational drivers behind transuranic nuclear weapons waste "drum breach" accidents at

Idaho National Laboratory Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is one of the national laboratories of the United States Department of Energy and is managed by the Battelle Energy Alliance. Historically, the lab has been involved with nuclear research, although the labora ...

and the

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, in New Mexico, US, is a deep geological repository licensed to store transuranic radioactive waste for 10,000 years. The storage rooms at the WIPP are 2,150 feet (660 m) underground in a salt formatio ...

. He developed this study in collaboration with geologist

Allison Macfarlane Allison M. Macfarlane directs the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia. She is the former director of the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy at George Washington University, where ...

, the former Chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

MIT Press The MIT Press is the university press of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press publishes a number of academic journals and has been a pioneer in the Open Ac ...

and

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...

published Ialenti's book, ''Deep Time Reckoning'', in 2020. The book examined Finnish nuclear waste company

Posiva Posiva Oy is a Finnish company with headquarters in the municipality of Eurajoki, Finland. It was founded in 1995 by Teollisuuden Voima (60% of stock) and Fortum (40% of stock), two Finnish nuclear plant operators, for researching and creating a ...

's initiative to model far future societies, bodies, and ecosystems—and how their efforts were enabled by the Finnish populace's high levels of trust in

geotechnical engineers Geotechnical engineering, also known as geotechnics, is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. It uses the principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics to solve its engineering problems. ...

, regulators, and ministry experts. In 2021, Ialenti became the first anthropologist with an article published in the

American Nuclear Society The American Nuclear Society (ANS) is an international, not-for-profit organization of scientists, engineers, and industry professionals that promote the field of nuclear engineering and related disciplines. ANS is composed of three communities: ...

's technical journal ''Nuclear Technology''. Later that year, Ialenti was featured alongside ambient musician

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

in a

Headspace Headspace may refer to: Science and technology * Headspace gas chromatography, a technique in analytical chemistry * Headspace or ullage, the unfilled space in a container * Headspace technology, the gaseous constituents of a closed space abo ...

meditation app podcast about long-term thinking.

Personal life

Ialenti is married to conservationist Allegra Wrocklage. Ialenti is an Associate of the

Long Now Foundation The Long Now Foundation, established in 1996, is an American non-profit organization based in San Francisco that seeks to start and promote a long-term cultural institution. It aims to provide a counterpoint to what it views as today's "faster ...

in San Francisco, California.

Books

References

External links

Vincent Ialenti
biography from

Arts & Sciences *
Vincent Ialenti
biography from

Cal Poly Humboldt California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt (Cal Poly Humboldt or Humboldt) is a public university in Arcata, California. It is one of three polytechnic universities in the California State University (CSU) system and the northernmost c ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ialenti, Vincent Alumni of the London School of Economics American anthropologists Binghamton University alumni Cornell University alumni Elliott School of International Affairs faculty People from Gardner, Massachusetts Year of birth missing (living people) Living people