Graduate Students

My graduate students all integrate historical perspectives into management and conservation questions. I only accept students who wish to train in some aspect of forest or environmental history; students who intend to design projects in restoration ecology or wildlife management should contact other potential advisors. Many of my PhD students do joint PhDs (with history, forestry, or environmental studies), and they are co-advised, to gain better interdisciplinary training.

Current students:

Sarah Mittlefehldt, Joint PhD with Forestry and Environmental Studies.  Sarah's dissertation examines the environmental history of the Appalachian Trail, focusing on recreation, community forestry, and relations between social groups.

Andrew Stuhl, MS in Land Resources, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.  Andrew's research examines the environmental history of native and non-native oysters in the Chesapeake Bay.

Mike Dowkry, PhD, Forestry.  Mike is researching community forestry on tribal lands within the Americas.

Amalia Tholen, MS, Land Resources.  Amalia's research will explore the environmental history of Isle Royale National Park.

Recent Graduates:

Michelle Steen-Adams, joint PhD in Forest Ecology and Management and Land Resources (co-advised with David Mladenoff). An Environmental History of the Northern Wisconsin Cutover. Michelle completed her PhD in August 2005, and is currently an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of New England.

Jim Feldman, PhD in History (co-advised with William Cronon). A Vision for the Apostles: Nature and History in the Apostle Islands.  Jim is currently Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

COURSES at UW-Madison

IES 113: Environmental Studies: The Humanistic Perspective Fall 2007. 9:55 to 10:50. MW, plus one discussion section.

The goal of this class is to explore changing ideas about nature, in order to understand the roots of current environmental dilemmas.  We will focus on four case studies that analyze the historic roots of current environmental issues.  Central themes will include changing perceptions of the relationship between nature and culture; cultural conflicts between Native Americans and Euro-Americans over land; the ways economic and political institutions affect ideas about the land; and the ecological effects of changing scientific paradigms.

Complicated relationships develop between ecosystems and human cultures.  Stories are central to these relationships; cultures construct nature by telling stories about what nature is and what nature means to them.  Relationships between stories and land go two ways:  the land itself shapes the stories people tell about their relationships to that land.  And in turn, stories affect the ways people change the land.  Trees get cut, grasslands get plowed, wilderness areas get established, and predators get eradicated, depending on the web of myths, stories, and perceptions people bring with them. 

History/Forestry/Environmental Studies 452. World Forest History. (The online website is from 2006; current versions are available at learn@uw, accessible only to registered UW students.

This seminar for advanced undergrads and graduate students takes an interdisciplinary approach to world forest history. For a discussion of themes and approaches in this class, please read the reflections essay I wrote about an earlier version of the course in  Environmental History.

In Fall 2008, David Mladenoff and I will co-teach a graduate seminar that explores historical and ecological approaches toward understanding the changing Great Lakes forests. Forest 875, 1 credit.