Current History Graduate Students

I study American and Environmental History. I am interested in how a history of missed opportunities between American environmentalists and people of color can provide key lessons for a modern environmental movement at a critical crossroads. What are the historical roots and genealogy of the split between white conservationists and current groups such as the far more diverse Sunrise Movement? What are the key events, decisions or laws that brought us to this modern moment with a national set of environmental groups struggling to be relevant and effective with a broader audience; a predicament that undermines their ability to tackle the challenges of a warming planet – and recognize that climate change is more than an environmental issue, it is at the intersection of socio-economic, racial, gender and cultural inequality issues as well. 

Denise is a Ph.D. student with an interest in U.S. empire and neocolonialism, focusing on Puerto Rico. She is particularly interested on how Indian federal laws and policies were transferred transnationally.

Travis studies environmental history and history of science. He is particularly interested in Antarctic science and exploration with an emphasis on subglacial lake access, ice core science and the rise of climate science in extreme environments since the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958. Other topics of interest include: Victorian science, Mountain Studies, and Geology.

Carol is a PhD candidate studying twentieth century Native American art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She holds a bachelor's degree in fine arts and an associate's degree in environmental science. Her work combines museum history, Native American history, and art history in order to study the development of modern Native Arts, from the Santa Fe Indian School to the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Angus is interested in studying the history of land management and conservation in the Western United States. He hopes to draw from his experiences recreating and working for conservation projects in the West to inform his studies. He also aspires to work on historical projects to educate and engage community stakeholders in decisions regarding the landscapes they love and rely upon. He enjoys skiing, running, hiking, drawing, and photography

 

Kirke is studying how concrete became so ordinary, so broadly embedded in Americans’ behaviors. This entails tracing not only hydraulic cement technologies but also cultural developments of footwear shaped by sidewalks, styles of painting on concrete walls, and habits of hanging out in basements. His general interests are in environment, geology, geography, and industrialization.

Joseph is interested in the intersection of  American environmental and intellectual history, as well as the history of mountains. He is researching the intellectual history and cultural meaning of the American mountain landscape. His M.A. Thesis, "Adams in the Garden: The Environmental Thought of John Adams," was a history of environmental thought in Early America and included a supplemental digital archive. His other interests include public history, geography, and the Catholic philosophy and theology of nature. In his free time he enjoys exploring the diverse landscapes of the American West as a mountaineer, peakbagger, hiker, and mountain biker.

 

 

Austin Schoenkopf (M.A., U. Oklahoma 2020) is a Ph.D. candidate studying the social and environmental consequences of creating a National Park Service unit in southeastern California’s eastern Mojave Desert. A Mellon Applied History Fellow at the Center of the American West, CU-Boulder, Austin works as a historic preservationist and archaeologist across the American West.

Matthew is conducting research at various archives including the Nebraska Historical Society – Lincoln, Montana Historical Society – Helena, the Coos County Historical Society – Coos Bay, Or., and the Oregon Historical Society – Portland, Or. The result of this research will show the various ways in which money, trust, and debt were non-material technologies used during the Gilded Age American West to create a system (that still exists today) that favored White Anglo men, while excluding the ‘Other.’ Using inter-disciplinary techniques, secondary source work includes psychology, economics, anthropology, and statistics. Matthew’s dissertation is a biography of a railroad, mining, fishing/cannery, and timber baron named Elijah ‘The Profit’ Smith.