Histories of Science, Natural Resources & Power

Hybrid Seminar
25–26 September, 2025
St. Petersburg Branch of S.I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology of Russian Academy of Sciences
Organizers: Anastasia Fedotova & Natalia Nikiforova

25 September, 14:30–16:15 (MSK, UTC+2)

Short intro: Natalia Nikiforova & Anastasia Fedotova

Chair: Anastasia Fedotova, SPbB IHST RAS

Andrey Vinogradov  “The White Birch Grew, and the White Tsar Came”: Economy, Power, and Climate Change in the Greater Altai, 1950–2020

Elena Kochetkova Rationality, Planning, and Natural Resources in the Soviet Political Economy

25 September, 16:30–18:00 (MSK, UTC+2)

Chair: Tatiana Borisova, HSE University St Petersburg

Anna Graber, University of Minnesota

Making Mineralogy Russian: Bashkirs, Mining Administrators, and Earth Knowledges of the Urals, 1700-1819

Marina Loskutova, HSE University St Petersburg

“No King Can Master God’s Own Elements”: the Flood of 1824 and the 19th Century Anti-Flood Protection Projects for St. Petersburg

26 September, 14:30–16:00 (MSK, UTC+2)

Chair: Grigorii Isachenko, St Petersburg State University

Paul Josephson, Colby College, Waterville, Maine, USA

What are Radioactive Brown Fields? Nuclear Legacies of the American West

Natalia Nikiforova, SPbB IHST RAS

“Useless Fossils”, Precious Waste and Streams of Energy. Soviet Electrification and Natural Resources for the Socialist Future (1920s–1930s) 

26 September, 16:15–17:45 (MSK, UTC+2)

Chair: Natalia Nikiforova, SPbB IHST RAS

Anastasia Fedotova, S.I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology

Useful Entomology: a Case of Imperial Court Estates in the Early 20th Century

Alejandro Martinez, Universidad Nacional de La Plata

Bacilli, Locusts, and Scientific Controversies: Félix d’Herelle (1873–1949) and the First Attempts at Biological Control of Insect Pests in Argentina