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Douglas Vakoch

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President, METI International; Professor Emeritus, California Institute of Integral Studies

Douglas Vakoch, Ph.D., is President of METI International, a nonprofit research and educational organization dedicated to transmitting intentional signals to nearby stars, as well as fostering sustainability of human civilization on multigenerational timescales—a prerequisite for a project that could take centuries or millennia to succeed. Dr. Vakoch is a frequent science commentator on television programs that explore astrobiology - the hunt for life in the cosmos, including the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). His expertise includes space exploration, the societal impact of science, COVID-19, and environmental threats to humanity's long-term survival. He has published more than two dozen books covering the search for life beyond Earth, COVID-19, the psychology of space exploration, transgender studies, ecofeminism, sustainability, and science fiction.

Experience

  • 2015–present
    President, METI International
  • 2017–present
    Professor Emeritus, California Institute of Integral Studies
  • 2005–2017
    Professor (Assistant - Full), California Institute of Integral Studies
  • 1999–2016
    Director of Interstellar Message Composition, SETI Institute

Education

  • 1996 
    Stony Brook University, PhD
  • 1991 
    University of Notre Dame, MA
  • 1983 
    Carleton College, BA

Publications

  • 2023
    Xenolinguistics: Towards a Science of Extraterrestrial Language, Routledge
  • 2022
    Eco-Anxiety and Pandemic Distress: Psychological Perspectives on Resilience and Interconnectedness, Oxford University Press
  • 2021
    Ecofeminist Science Fiction: International Perspectives on Gender, Ecology, and Literature, Routledge
  • 2016
    In defence of METI, Nature Physics, 12, 890, https://www.nature.com/articles/nphys3897
  • 2014
    Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication, NASA
  • 2014
    The Drake Equation: Estimating the Prevalence of Extraterrestrial Life through the Ages, Cambridge University Press
  • 2011
    Psychology of Space Exploration, NASA
  • 2011
    Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence, SUNY Press

Professional Memberships

  • International Astronomical Union (IAU), https://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/15681/