Alessandro Rippa

Alessandro Rippa is an Associate Professor at the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo. His research focuses on infrastructure, border studies, environmental anthropology, and global circulations, with regional expertise in Western China, Myanmar, Italian Alps, and Pakistan. He currently leads the ERC-funded project Amber Worlds: A Geological Anthropology for the Anthropocene (2023–2028).

• Education: PhD in Social Anthropology, University of Aberdeen (2015)
• Former Positions: Postdoctoral roles at LMU Munich and University of Colorado Boulder; Associate Professor at Tallinn University (2019–2022)

Research Interests bridge infrastructure development, human-environment relations, and social change. He examines unintended consequences of infrastructure, such as extractive economies in the Belt and Road Initiative, conservation in the Italian Alps, and amber mining’s socioecological impacts in Myanmar. His work integrates anthropology, STS, and political ecology to address Anthropocene challenges.

Selected Publications analyze borderlands, techno-politics, and environmental crises. Recent studies include the Kachin amber industry under geopolitical instability and tourism’s failure in post-industrial Alpine landscapes.

• Scientific Awards: ERC Starting Grant
• Editorial Role: Member of the ROADSIDES editorial collective (since 2018)

Grants: Funded by the European Research Council, Volkswagen Foundation, Estonian Research Council, and ERA.Net RUS Plus. His projects include Environing Infrastructure (2020–2025) at the Rachel Carson Center.