Associate Professor History

About

  • Role

    Faculty

  • Position

    • Associate Professor History
    • Director of Public and Environmental History Center

  • Concentration

    • Public History and Environmental History

  • Department

    • History

  • Education

    • Ph.D., University of New Mexico

Biography

ABOUT ME

I am a historian of the modern United States whose work bridges environmental, labor, gender, and public history. My scholarship examines how people navigate power, identity, and belonging within contested landscapes—whether in national parks, agricultural valleys, or the intimate spaces of reproduction. As a public historian, I am deeply committed to collaboration and to producing research that serves both academic audiences and the broader public.

At Colorado State University, I direct the Public and Environmental History Center (PEHC), a hub for collaborative scholarship, student training, and partnerships with agencies and communities. Our work integrates archival research, oral history, and material culture analysis to inform the stewardship of public lands and cultural resources. Since joining CSU, I have led or co-led dozens of major projects, bringing in millions of dollars in external funding and training numerous graduate students and early-career historians.

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION

Cultural Resource Management/Historic Preservation with Adam Thomas.

Public History with Leisl Carr Childers and Adam Thomas.

History of Women, Gender, & Sexuality with Professors Ann Little and Erin Jordan

U.S. Environmental History with Professors Jared Orsi, Leisl Carr Childers, Michael Childers, and Doug Sheflin.

Public Lands History with faculty at the Public Lands History Center

TEACHING & MENTORING

I teach courses in U.S. environmental history, public history, and heritage resource management, ranging from large undergraduate surveys to advanced graduate seminars. My classes emphasize hands-on, collaborative projects—including History Harvests, National Register nominations, and digital history projects—that connect students with community partners and agencies.

I have supervised dozens of M.A. degrees and graduate internships with the NPS, USFS, USDA, state and city agencies, and local preservation organizations. Many of my students have gone on to positions in cultural resource management, historic preservation, and public history. Mentoring students as they bridge academic study and applied practice is one of the most meaningful aspects of my work.

*Prospective Graduate Students*
I advise and mentor graduate students training in the Cultural Resource Management (CRM) & Historic Preservation Concentration of the Master of Arts in History program. I typically take 3-4 graduate students per year who want to earn an MA in the CRM&HP Concentration  (program code HIST-CMHZ-MA). I may also be interested in working with graduate students who want to complete a thesis, studying the intersections of environmental history and public history, or environmental history and gender history. Graduate students interested in working with me must email for an introductory meeting before they apply. *For Fall 2025, I will not be accepting new students as I will be on sabbatical in 2026-27.

REGULARLY TAUGHT COURSES

HIST 640 Public History Research Seminar (even falls)

HIST 503 Methods Seminar in Historic Preservation (odd springs)
HIST 479 The Practice of Public History (every fall)
HIST 478 Heritage Resource Management (cross-listed as ANTH 478, offered even springs)
HIST 476 The History of America s National Parks (varies)
HIST 373 Environmental History of Colorado at CSU's Mt. Campus (summers only)

HIST 355 American Environmental History (varies)
HIST 151 U.S. History since 1877 (varies)

Publications

Select Past and Current Projects

In Progress

  • Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Administrative History, Volume II. NPS-funded project producing a history of the park’s administration from the 1990s to the present.
  • Sitka National Historical Park Historic Resource Study. NPS-funded project producing historical contexts, resource evaluations, and an integrated analysis of the park’s cultural landscape.
  • Screwing with Nature: An Environmental History of Contraceptives in the United States. Forthcoming monograph (University of Washington Press) exploring the production, consumption, and disposal histories of common forms of birth control in the twentieth century.

Completed

  • Confinement in the Land of Enchantment: Japanese Americans in New Mexico During World War II. Natl Park Service Japanese Confinement Sites Program, 2017. Produced a publication, StoryMap, research materials, and interpretive plans. Honored with the Honorable Mention Outstanding Public History Project Award from the National Council for Public History (2018). See my TEDx Talk on the project.
  • Changes in Riverine Agricultural Practices at the Pueblo de Cochiti. Prepared for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Pueblo de Cochiti and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) Albuquerque District, 2012.
  • “Place, Gender, Ethnicity, and the Role of the Nation in the Lives of Northern Plains Women.” In Women on the North American Plains, ed. Renee M. Laegreid and Sandra K. Mathews, forward by Joan M. Jensen. Texas Tech University Press: 2011.

Courses

  • HIST 479 The Practice of Public History (every fall)

    There are many career opportunities for historians who wish to work with the public in settings outside of the classroom—this course will introduce students to the range of work historians do as public historians. This course will combine field trips, discussions with guest professionals, lectures, readings, class discussions, and real-world assignments to introduce students to various types of Public History work. We will explore the theory and methods of public history, and most importantly we will practice working as public historians ourselves.

  • HIST 373 Colorado’s Environmental History (summer)

    Environmental History is the study of how humans have interacted with, shaped, and been shaped by their physical environments. Environmental historians consider the active role that nature has played in human history. This course looks at relationships among people and environments in Colorado and takes place each summer for two weeks at CSU’s Mt. Campus. Recently, students in the class produced this documentation of the Ramsey-Koenig Historic District located on the campus: https://csurams.maps.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=565dbe5baf7040ce86c150cfb1ca11bb