Janet Vertesi
Sociologist of Science & Technology
Janet Vertesi
About Me
Welcome! I am a sociologist of science and technology at Princeton University, where I am an Associate Professor in the Sociology Department.
I am best known for my research with NASA's robotic spacecraft teams, published in books like Seeing Like a Rover and Shaping Science, funded by the National Science Foundation. I am also known for my unique experiments in personal data privacy, which I call my Opt Out Experiments. And I have a keen interest in the transformations that accompany digital technologies in today's workplace, and how we might built better technologies to better respect our social worlds, which fuels my research, teaching and publishing in human-computer interaction.
Check out my publications, public writing, and ongoing projects through the links on the left.- Position Associate Professor, Princeton University
- Expert in Technology and Society, organizational sociology, science studies, the science of team science, critical design
- Also affiliated with Computer Science; Center for Information Technology Policy; Data and Society Institute; History of Science Program; Digital Humanities
- Teaching Technology and Society; the Sociology of the Internet; the Sociology of the Cubicle; Critical Approaches to Human-Computer Interaction; Can we build anti-racist technologies?
- e-mail jvertesi at Princeton dot edu
About My Work
Janet has embedded herself at Nasa to understand how social, cultural and organisational dynamics shape the science and engineering efforts surrounding the Mars Exploration Rover and Cassini Saturn missions. Her brain makes me drool.
Janet Vertesi had a front-row seat for the Mars Exploration Rover project, and for the first time she brought a social scientist’s keen eye to the way we operate rovers on Mars. In Seeing like a Rover she doesn’t just describe how we did what we did. She gets inside our heads to describe why we did what we did... It’s a fascinating read.
Vertesi is an ethnographer embedded in a peculiar world where humans and robots work as equal partners - Margaret Mead among the Starfleet.
Shaping Science is a masterful ethnography of work and organization. Vertesi shows us what ethnomethodological fieldwork can and should be... If you study science, technology, work, or organizations, this book is a must read.
Fun Facts
Planetary missions observed
9Alternative phone operating systems used
10Porch Electric Harp Concerts Given in 2020
21Resume
Positions held
2013 - current
Faculty memberPrinceton University
Department of Sociology. Assistant Professor 2013-2020. Associate Professor 2020-
2010-2013
Postdoctoral ScholarSociety of Fellows
Interdisciplinary center at Princeton University.
2009-2010
Postdoctoral ResearcherUniversity of California Irvine
Research scholar in the Donald Bren School of Computer and Information Sciences.
2005
Human Factors EngineerIntel Corporation
User Centered Design group
Education
2009
Ph.D.Cornell University, USA
Science & Technology Studies
2002
M.Phil.Cambridge University, UK
History and Philosophy of Science
2002
M.Phil.University of British Columbia, Canada
Religion Literature and the Arts; Science Studies
Expertise
- Science & Technology Studies
- Organizational Sociology
- Technology and Society
- Socioeconomics
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Human-Robot Interaction
- The future of work
- The Gig Economy
- The personal data economy
- Evading Surveillance Capitalism
Professional Associations
- Society for Social Studies of Science
- American Sociological Association
- Association of Computing Machinery
- Society for the Advancement of Socioeconomics
- American Geophysical Union
Selected Grants and Awards
Commonwealth Scholarship
National Science Foundation
The Sloan Foundation
Yahoo! Research
NASA
Book Award
Book Award
Research
Collaboration at NASA
Personal Data Privacy
Digital Studies
The futures of work
Money in Science
Scientific Images
Select Publications
Anti-Racist HCI: notes on an emerging critical technical practice (alt.CHI 2022)
Papers
Shaping Science: Organizations, Decisions, and Culture on NASA's Teams (2020)
Book
digitalSTS: A Handbook and Fieldguide (2019)
Book
Working Apart, Together: The Challenges of Co-Work (with Casey Swezey, CSCW 2019)
Papers
Fairness and Abstraction in Sociotechnical Systems (co-authored, FAT* 2019)
Papers
All Computer Science publications
Other
Testing Planets: Institutions Tested in an Era of Uncertainty (BJS, 2020)
Papers
"All these worlds are yours except ... Science fiction and folk fictions at NASA" (eSTS, 2019)
Papers
Seizing the digital (eSTS, 2016)
Papers
Seeing Like a Rover: How Robots, Teams and Images Craft Knowledge of Mars (2015)
Book
The Greatest Missions Never Flown, with Lisa Messeri (T&C, 2015)
Papers
Seamful Spaces (STHV, 2014)
Papers
Representation in Scientific Practice Revisited (2014)
Book
Seeing Like a Rover: Visualization and Interaction on the Mars Exploration Rover Mission (SSS, 2012)
Papers
Mind the Gap: The London Underground Map and Users' Representations of Urban Space (SSS, 2008)
PapersContact
Members of the press or other media, please contact me via Princeton's media and public relations office at commpro@princeton.edu.
Teaching
Past Courses
Sociology of the Internet
An introduction to social phenomena online, relevant social theories from sociology, and critical work in the field.Technology and Society
Cross-listed between Engineering, History and Sociology, this course teaches essential sociotechnical skills and strategies.Sociology of the Cubicle
Organizational sociology, taught from the perspective of the contemporary technology industry.Critical Approaches to Human-Computer Interaction
Senior seminar that applies insights and social theories from the humanities and social sciences to design novel systems.Organizational Ethnography
Graduate seminar on organizational ethnography, combining classical and contemporary studies.Technology Studies
Graduate seminar introduction to science and technology studies, emphasizing major theories and theorists.Can we buid anti-racist technologies?
Senior seminar applying anti-racist approach with critical technical practice to build alternative devices and tools.The Sociology of Organizations
Co-taught graduate seminar with focus on social theories.Sociology of the Internet: the MOOC
Coming soon - watch this space!In the Media
I am @cyberlyra on Mastodon follow me!
My Twitter account is here.
I write about my experiments in evading Surveillance Capitalism at The Opt Out Project.
If you are interested in getting in touch for an interview, please contact me via Princeton's media and public relations office at commpro@princeton.edu
Reviews for Seeing Like a Rover
- The Times Higher Education Supplement
- The Space Review
- the Lunar and Planetary Information Bulletin
- New Books in Science Technology and Society Podcast
Public presentations and videos
- My panel talk at Theorizing the Web 2014 about the pregnancy experiment, streamed by Mashable here.
- My talk at the San Francisco Exploratorium: here.
Opinion
- The Encyclopedia Project: or, How to Know in the Age of AI, Public Books June 13, 2024
- Don't be Fooled: Most AI is Just Outsourcing, Redux, Tech Policy Press April 4, 2024
- Data Free Disney, Public Books January 31, 2023
- I hid my pregnancy from the internet so I know: Online privacy is nearly impossible, Los Angeles Times May 16, 2022
- The Problem with Police Body Cameras, Time Ideas May 4, 2015
- What Sci-Fi Got Wrong About the Apple Watch, Time Ideas April 24, 2015
- Stop Counting On Individuals To Solve California's Water Crisis, Time Ideas April 20, 2015
- Celebrity Nude Photo Hack Exposes Flaw In How We Think About Privacy and the Cloud, Time Ideas September 2, 2014
- The Real Reason You Should Be Worried About That Facebook Experiment, Time Ideas July 2, 2014
- My Experiment Opting Out of Big Data Made Me Look Like a Criminal, Time Ideas May 1, 2014
- Also covered at the following media outlets: Mashable.com, Huffington Post, Think Progress, Forbes.com, Jezebel, The Guardian, BoingBoing, The Globe And Mail, CTV News, NPR
- Don't Gut NASA Space Missions, CNN Opinion December 14, 2013
- Give Apple Maps a Chance, CNN Opinion October 5, 2012
- Seminar's Relevance, Op Ed in The Daily Princetonian April 4, 2012
- Lost in Space? Cuts to NASA Threaten Innovation, Diplomacy, Op Ed at PBS Need To Know, February 27, 2012
- Where are the Women in the Technology Top 30 Under 30?, Op Ed in Forbes Woman, December 21, 2011
- Our Favorite Martians, a feature article in Air and Space Magazine
- Doing the Rover Dance, in Ambidextrous Magazine.
- My work on the London Underground Map featured in a page spread in National Geographic in July, 2008.
- Mapping and naming the moon in Endeavour Magazine in 2004.
Recent News
2024
JuneEthics is not all that is wrong with AI
What we think knowledge is is a big part of the problem, as I argue in my piece about getting an encyclopedia, online at PublicBooks.org.
2023
JanuaryHow to escape trackers at Disneyland
My new piece about escaping data detection at Disneyland, Data-free Disney, is online at PublicBooks.org. You may be surprised to hear what it took to opt out this time!
2023
JanuaryThe Jet Propulsion Laboratory Advisory Board
I have been appointed to the Advisory Board by the director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I am looking forward to contributing my expertise on teaming, remote work, and human-robot interaction to the lab's continued success as a leader in space exploration and research.
2022
NovemberThe Opt Out Project is online
If you're interested in my efforts to avoid data tracking and surveillance, check out my new blog, The Opt Out Project. You may also sign up for my mailing list there to hear more about options for conscientiously objecting to Big Tech online.
2021
DecemberCo-Editor of MIT Press Infrastructures series
I'm thrilled to announce that I have joined my colleague Paul Edwards as co-editor of MIT Press's fabulous Infrastructures Series! I am looking forward to working with junior scholars and shaping the scholarly conversation across this exciting field.
2020
DecemberShaping Science out now!
My new book, Shaping Science, is now available from University of Chicago Press!
2020
MayTenured at Princeton University
I am delighted to join the professoriate at Princeton University as a tenured professor in Sociology.
2020
JuneNew NSF Grant
With David Reinecke, I've been awarded a new RAPID grant from the National Science Foundation to study the impact of Covid-19 on the space sciences.
2019
JunedigitalSTS released!
The result of eight years of collaboration, our new edited volume on digital studies in STS is available here!
2019
JuneSloan Foundation grant!
With colleague Adam Goldstein I've been awarded a Sloan Foundation grant to study outsourcing and automation in the gig economy.
2018
JanuaryNew project
Together with a small team, I am undertaking a study on how the Europa mission fares when it forgoes in-person meetings for digital or alternative forms of interaction.
2016
JulyNSF grant!
With David Reinecke, we've been awarded a grant to study economic precarity and mission funding at NASA.