Speakers

Patience Yockey is a research data scientist at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) focused on deploying, maintaining, and validating AI across operational technology and power‑system environments. Her portfolio includes resilience and drift modeling for ML applications on the electric grid, AI‑augmented expert systems for utility vulnerability assessment, and OT‑specific ML detections for advanced threats. She supports Cyber‑Informed Engineering (CIE) with validation methodologies, small modular reactor use cases, and cyber‑conservative operations for distribution and transmission systems.

Patience’s research and publications address safe AI in critical infrastructure including a peer‑reviewed study on cyber‑threat assessment of ML‑driven autonomous control in nuclear power plants and guidance on AI validation for industrial environments. She earned an M.S. in Nuclear & Radiological Engineering from Georgia Tech and dual B.S. degrees in Nuclear Engineering and Computer Science from Idaho State University. She is an International Atomic Energy Agency Marie Skłodowska‑Curie Fellow and an NRC Nuclear Education Program Fellow.