Lisa
I am a historian based in Seattle. My writing focuses on maritime sites and the history of marine environments. Currently my research highlights the Salish Sea but my work has taken me many places, including the Pribilof Islands, Kodiak Island, French Polynesia, Hawai‘i, Oregon, California, Florida, Bahamas, Virgin Islands (British and American), Galápagos Islands, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong, and throughout Europe and Canada. I am affiliate faculty at the University of Washington-Tacoma, and I serve on the Northwest Regional Council of the National Parks Conservation Association.
Mighetto
Venice
Publications
Books
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Hard Drive to the Klondike: Promoting Seattle During the Gold Rush, 1897-1898 [co-authored with Marcia Montgomery]. University of Washington Press, 2002.
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Wild Animals and American Environmental Ethics. University of Arizona Press, 1991.
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Muir Among the Animals: The Wildlife Writings of John Muir [editor]. Sierra Club Books, 1986. Reviewed by The New Yorker and New York Times Book Review; excerpted in Los Angeles Times.
Reports
"Salmon on the Baker River," for Puget Sound Energy.
Wesley Ebel, co-author. "Saving the Salmon," for the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Carla Homstad, co-author. "Engineering in the Far North: A History of the US Army Engineer District in Alaska," for the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Todd Jennings and Jill Schnaiberg, co-authors. "Currents of Change: A History of the Portland District of the US Army Corps of Engineers," for the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Ted Catton, co-author. "The Fish and Wildlife Job in the Forest Service," for the USDA Forest Service.
canned salmon labels from author's research and personal collection
Articles
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Column , "A Northwest Sailor Navigates the Past," 48° North (2023 - ).
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"Early Departure" (about cruising in Desolation Sound, BC), forthcoming in Passagemaker, 2024.
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"Bash to the Rock: 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race," Sailing Magazine (October 2023).
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"Tahiti Temptation," Sailing Magazine (April/May 2023).
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"Outside City Limits: A West Coast Boating Family Discovers Storied Villages and Easy Camaraderie on New York's Hudson River," Passagemaker Magazine (March 2023). Click here to view.
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"What Lies Beneath: Sunken Ships, Lost Treasure, and the Discovery of the SS Pacific," 48° North (March 2023). Click here to view.
"Back to Baja," Sailing Magazine (July 2022).
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"Sentimental Journey: A Family Rediscovers its Boating Roots on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta," BoatUS (April/May 2022). Click here to view.
"A Tale of Toxic Terror," Environmental History (April 2021).
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"Preserving Maritime Heritage in the Salish Sea," Cruising World (April 2021).
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"An Island Called Hope," SisterShip Magazine (January/February 2021).
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Column "Beacon Background," 48° North (2021-2023).
"Five Easy Places: Island Gems of the South Sound," 48° North (July 2020).
"Sailing Into a Pandemic," Sailing Magazine (June 2020).
"50 Years Later: Reflecting on the Significance of Earth Day," National Parks Conservation Association blog, April 22, 2020.
"Where the Birds Are," Cruising World (March 2020).
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"The Trouble with Conferences," Rachel Carson Center blog, July 3, 2019.
"The Anxious Mariner," in Facing Fear Head On: True Stories of Women on the Water (SisterShip Press, 2019).
"The Role of Environmental History in the National Parks," guest editor with David Louter - Introduction. The George Wright Forum 28 (2011).
“Remembering April 22, 1970.” Environmental Justice (April 2010).
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"The Volunteer Experience - Toliva Shoal Race," Pacific Yachting (September/October 2008).
"Going Wild." Environmental History 12 (April 2007):337-340.
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"The Strange Fate of the Black River: How Urban Engineering Shaped Lake Washington and the Duwamish River Watershed" Journal of the West 44 (Fall 2005).
"Mermaids, the Pacific Fisherman, and the 'Romance of Salmon.'" Environmental History 10 (July 2005):532-537.
Catherine A. Christen, co-author. "Environmental History as Public History." The Public Historian 26 (Winter 2004):9-19.
"Researching Endangered Species." In Martin V. Melosi and Philip V. Scarpino, editors, Public History and the Environment. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company, 2004.
“Mt. Rainier and PNQ: A National Park Centennial Album.” Pacific Northwest Quarterly (Winter 1998-1999):30-40.
“Sport Fishing on the Columbia River.” Pacific Northwest Quarterly (Winter 1995‑1996):5‑15.
“Wildlife Protection History” in Conservation and Environmentalism: An Encyclopedia, Robert Paehlke, editor. New York: Garland Publishing, 1995.
“Salmon, Science, and Politics: Writing History for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.” The Public Historian (Fall 1995):17‑28.
“The Expedition of 1905: 200 Climbers Tackle Mt. Rainier.” Columbia (Fall 1990):32‑36.
“Wildlife Protection and the New Humanitarianism.” Environmental Review (Spring, 1988):37‑49.
“John Muir and the Rights of Animals.” Pacific Historian (Summer/Fall 1985):103‑112.
“Muir Among the Animals.” Sierra (March/April, 1985):69‑71.
“Science and Sentiment: American Nature Writing at the Turn of the Century.” Pacific Historical Review (February, 1985):33‑50.
“Wolves I have Known: Naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton in the Arctic.” Alaska Journal (Winter 1985):33‑59.