Scholarship and Biography

Teaches courses on environmental issues, environmental history, sustainable farming and forestry, and early American culture. Primary research interests include the history and the prospects of human engagement with the land, especially in New England

Honors

Watson Fellowship
Watson-Brown Foundation (United States, Thomson), 1982-1983
Independent Scholar
National Endowment for the Humanities (United States, Washington D.C.) - NEH, 1997-1998
Choice Outstanding Academic Title for Reclaiming the Commons: Commumity and Forests in a New England Town
American Library Association (United States, Chicago) - ALA, 1999
Marver and Sheva Bernstein Faculty Fellowship
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 2000 - 2001
Best Book: "Advancing the Understanding of New England Landscape and Material Culture"
Historic New England (United States, Boston) - SPNEA, 2000-2001
Choice Outstanding Academic Title for The Great Meadow
American Library Association (United States, Chicago) - ALA, 2004
Theodore Saloutos Prize
Agricultural History Society, 2005
George Perkins March Prize for the book "The Great Meadow"
American Society for Environmental History (United States, Tacoma) - ASEH, 2005
Forest Charles Bullard Fellowship
Harvard University (United States, Cambridge), 2005
Book Award for "The Great Meadow"
New England Historical Association, 2005
Fellowship
American Council of Learned Societies (United States, New York) - ACLS, 2011
Bay State Legacy Award
Mass Humanities (United States, Northampton), 2015
Brandeis Senior Faculty Research Leave -- "Mending Wall"
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 2019

Organizational Affiliations

Professor Emeritus of American Environmental Studies, Interdepartmental Program in American Studies, Brandeis University

Education

Brandeis University
Ph.D.
Brandeis University
M.A.
Brandeis University
B.A.