Education

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Ph.D. - University of Washington

Specialty: Environmental History [Arthur Denny Fellowship; Rachel Royston Scholarship]

 

B.A. - University of California - Santa Barbara

History and English [Chancellor's Scholar]

 

Employment History

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Columnist for 48° North Sailing Magazine, "A Northwest Sailor Navigates the Past,"

2023 - 

 

Columnist for 48° North Sailing Magazine, "Beacon Background," 2021-2023

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Freelance writer, travel and boating articles, 2018-present

 

Executive Director, American Society for Environmental History, 2007 - 2018

When I retired from this position, the ASEH named an award after me to honor my years of service to this scholarly organization and to the profession.  See non-profit management section of this website for more information. See this link for the tribute from ASEH: https://aseh.org/resources/Documents/4Kkpgu-L%20I%20S%20A-US%20LETTER-Final.pdf

 

Vice President and Director of History Division, Historical Research Associates, Inc., 1991 - 2006

Responsibilities included strategic planning, project management (including staff and budgets), marketing, and writing - see historical consulting section of this website for more information

 

Assistant Professor (non-tenure track), University of Puget Sound, Department of History, 1987-1991

Taught environmental history, Pacific Northwest history, and US Survey courses

 

Committees and Affiliations

 

Fellow, Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität München, 2019

 

Affiliate Faculty, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington-Tacoma [current]

 

Member, Northwest Regional Council, National Parks and Conservation Association [current]

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Co-Chair, Program Committee for World Congress, International Consortium of Environmental History Organizations (ICEHO), Brazil, 2017-2019

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Committee Member, Governor's Inaugural Ball Committee, Olympia, Washington (event planning), 2016-2017 and 2020-2021

 

Local Arrangements Committee Chair for conferences in Seattle (1996 and 2016) and Tacoma (2000) for National Council on Public History and American Society for Environmental History

 

Site Selection Committee Chair, International Consortium of Environmental History Organizations, 2009 and 2015

 

Executive Committee, Conference of Executive Officers, American Council of Learned Societies (and Nominating Committee Chair for ACLS)

 

Nominating Committee Chair, National Council on Public History

 

Editorial boards, The Public Historian and Pacific Northwest Quarterly

 

Interests

 

sailing, kayaking, birding, hiking, playing mandolin

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