ICEHO Bulletin 11February 2017
From the President

Dear colleagues,
With this first Bulletin of ICEHO for 2017, let mewish you the best for the as yet young New Year.
The past year has been one of great politicalchanges in many countries, a year of fighting forthe environment for many activists, and, bychance, the year I learned from Libby Robin about
the “Hug a Climate Scientist Day”, celebrated atleast since 2012 in Australia in June (mid-winter).
When we discussed this initiative, I did not only
learn that Australia’s public funding for Climate
Science is dismal, with civil society starting tochime in, but also that hugging a climate scientist
was considered important as their science is often
depressing.
As ICEHO, we have an important agenda in creating a
supportive scholarly network. Conferences are the mostimportant opportunity we have to present our findings
and to learn of all the exciting work our colleagues aredoing. They are also good to have the occasional chat‘over coffee or beer’ about our pet subjects, theuniverse and everything in between. But they can also
be used more explicitly as a great opportunity forcreating ties and forming networks of support for eachother.
The next ASEH meeting will take place in Chicago thisAmerican spring. I will be there and I look forward toconversations with all ICEHO members at theconference. ICEHO will also hold a meeting during ASEH.

Save the date, please: We will meet on Friday
31/3/2017 in the evening.
This meeting will be the first and last one organized byour current Secretary, Dagomar Degroot. Dagomar has
given ICEHO its new website, he has also brought us tothe world of Twitter and has managed the membershipsurvey. Now he has asked us to find a replacement for
him, as he has recently not only fathered a wonderful
baby but also won major research grants (congrats toboth!) and feels that he cannot continue withoutcompromising the quality of service. Although
Dagomar’s tenure will end earlier than planned, he has
given ICEHO a lasting gift with the new website and thesocial media attached to it. We are deeply grateful forhis stellar contributions. While it is never easy to replacesomeone, and particularly difficult in this case, we will
be able to elect a new Secretary in due course as wealready have been able to identify a brilliant candidate
who has agreed to be nominated for the position.
We are looking forward to the next business meeting ofICEHO to be held at ESEH in Zagreb, Croatia, at the endof June 2017, to elect the new Secretary and Treasurer.
Details will be advised nearer the time.
In this first bulletin of 2017, I would like to also share areflection of a more personal kind with you. Last year,
several excellent scholars of our field died. In several ofthese cases, colleagues sadly took their own lives. Whileeach such case is different, depressive disorder has
played an important role in them. Being a scholar
obviously can be a difficult and lonely occupation.
Several graduate students I know and hold in highesteem as to their scholarly capability, have recently
succumbed to the pressure and suffer from illnesses
such as persistent migraine or burn-out-like symptoms.
While I still hope that we have not entered a postfactual age where scholarly truth-seeking becomes
more and more devalued, I do think that scholarly
networks have become even more important than everbefore. Career pressure is mounting. I admire how somany of the younger generation juggle babies, books
and the professional requirements of travelling andteaching, how they deal with insecure jobs and withuniversities given over to measuring quantities wherequality should matter. At the same time, funding for thehumanities is definitely not increasing. In many
countries, researchers have to support their own workwith menial jobs, because state payment is simply notenough. Adjunct professors are badly paid and have nojob security. The closing of the National Endowment for
the Humanities in the United States is shocking news
that will further challenge the way scholarship inenvironmental history can be achieved.
Perhaps not only Climate Scientists but also
Environmental Historians need a hug? Should we call forhugs perhaps on May 27, Rachel Carson’s birthday? Orperhaps on February 27, the birthday of Alice Hamilton,
a pioneer in occupational health and safety? Or would
we want to hug on March 14, the day Nellie Kershaw,
the first acknowledged victim of asbestos, died in 1924?
Let us know if you have an idea what the perfect day tohug an Environmental Historian might be.
In our roles as functionaries and members ofprofessional organizations, we can foster mentoring
programs, graduate student liaisons and support foryoung scholars by providing childcare at conferencesand grants to ease the financial burden of travel.
In our role as scholars, we can use the opportunities wehave in universities, museums, research organizations or
wherever else we are, to foster mental illness
awareness, to talk to the organization’s ombudsman if
we see bullying or pressure mounting on colleagues or
students, in short, we can create a supportive and caring
atmosphere.
This will not only make the academic world in which welive a better place to do so, it will also strengthen our
scholarly pursuits and help the discipline thrive. One of
the most important gifts we can give each other isattention to each other’s work, attention and wellmeaning criticism to make it even better. I am looking
forward to the opportunities for engaging in scholarly
discussions at the many gatherings this coming year.
Until we meet again, have a GOOD New Year. Please let
us know about important developments in yourorganization, we are looking forward to filling the next
Issue to the brim with news from your member
organization.
Verena Winiwarter, President

Bulletin Editor Libby
Robin is based at the Australian
National University, Canberra.
She welcomes contributions!

libby.robin@anu.edu.auUniversidade
Federal da Santa
Catarina, (USFC),
Florianópolis, Brazil
Hosts of WCEH III
in 2019
The third World Congress of Environmental History(WCEH2019) will run from 23rd—26th July 2019ICEHO ELECTIONS 2017: TREASURER
AND SECRETARY
The ICEHO by-laws provide for staggered elections
for Board members and for Treasurer andSecretary at 3 and 4 years respectively. In 2016
Board members were elected and this year, at theESEH meeting in Zagreb between 28 June and 2
July elections will be held for Treasurer andSecretary. Details about the General Assembly will
be announced nearer the time.
We are pleased to have one nomination for each ofthese positions thus far and we invite further
nominations, accompanied by CVs, by 28 February
2017. Please send these to the election officer,
Jane Carruthers at j.carruthers@mweb.co.za

Treasurer: Steven Anderson, a founderand everenthusiastic
supporter ofICEHO, andwho has been
responsible forthe financial
andadministrative
business of theConsortium
since its inception, has agreed to be renominated for a further 4-year term. Steve,
who has a PhD in forest economics andwho has extensive experience in many
aspects of forestry, is currently President of
the Forest History Society based in North
Carolina. The FHS has very close ties with
the American Society of Environmental
History and Steve is active in manyenvironmental and forestry associations.

Congratulations!

Secretary: Bo Poulsen is an Associate
Professor in the Department of Culture andGlobal Studies at Aalborg University inDenmark. Bo also has a long association
with ICEHO having been local organizer ofthe World Congress of Environmental
History in Copenhagen/Malmö in 2009. Bo
is a widely published and highly regarded
environmental historian with special
interest in marine and maritime studies. His
research includes social and economic
history and he enjoys novel methodologies
and interdisciplinary studies. His latest
book is Global Marine Science andCarlsberg: The Golden Connections ofJohannes Schmidt, 1877-1933 (Leiden,2016)

Congratulations to the Editors, Estelita Vaz,
Cristina Joanaz de Melo and Lígia M. Costa Pintoon this wonderful publication of so many of thepapers from our last Congress. Thanks to all thecontributors, and to Mauro Agnoletti, who steered
the publication through Springer.

The new secretary replaces theindefatigable Dolly Jørgensen, President ofthe ESEH who, after a wonderful job as
ICEHO’s founding Secretary was obliged
to step down last year owing to pressure ofwork. In her stead, Dagomar Degroot hasbeen temporarily in the secretarial seat andwe thank him sincerely for his efforts andhis assistance in this interim period.
Jane Carruthers
ICEHO Election Officerj.carruthers@mweb.co.za

Other New Publications

Volume 23(1) 2017

Check out our website:
http://www.iceho.org
There is always something new happening here!

https://seeingthewoods.org/In Brief:

Solcha’s next symposium, in 2018, will be hosted by theUniversidad Nacional de Costa Rica at its Liberia campus(Guanacaste province) Dates will be announced soon.

German-AmericanConnections inAmerican Conservation
History

Order here:
www.AmericasFirst.Forest.org

see latest CLIMATE HISTORY NEWS here:
http://www.climatehistory.net/news2/2016/10/6/
chn-fall-newsletter-publishededucation, and in promoting
collaboration between
environmental historians around theworld. We are keen to publicise yourconferences and events on ourWEBSITE:
http://www.iceho.org/
Make sure your organization is part of the
ICEHO Family…
From as little as $US100/year

HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/TONY_MCMICHAEL (1942-2014)

CLIMATECHANGEAND THEHEAL THOF
NATIONSTONYMCMICHAE
L with Alistair
Woodward andCameron Muir
Launch 7 February 2017, Australian Centre on China

in the World at the Australian National
University – details
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/launch-of-tony-mcmichaels-lastbook-tickets-28825671359

The International Consortium ofEnvironmental History Organizations
is a ‘network of networks’ forenvironmental history in universities,
museums, publishers and otherinstitutions.
We sponsor International Congresses
every 5 years. Between Congresses,
we work actively to promote
environmental history in all its forms:
as scholarship and research,
informing public policy andInformation online:
http://www.iceho.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/01/ICEHOMembership-Application.pdf
Contact Valerie Bass:
Valerie.Bass@foresthistory.org

Contacts for ICEHO Executive BoardPresident: Verena Winiwarter Verena.Winiwarter@aau.at
Vice-President: Claudia Leal claleal@uniandes.edu.co
Secretary: Dagomar Degroot
Dagomar.Degroot@georgetown.edu
Treasurer: Steven Anderson
steven.anderson@foresthistory.org
Past President/Bulletin Editor:
Libby Robin libby.robin@anu.edu.au
Board Members
Alan MacEachern amaceach@uwo.ca
Claudia Leal claleal@uniandes.edu.co
Daisy Onyige chioma2nv76@gmail.com
James Beattie jbeattie@waikato.ac.nz
Mucha Musemwa mucha.musemwa@wits.ac.za
Shen Hou houshen@ruc.edu.cn
Sidd Krishnan siddhartha.krishnan@atree.org

Commented [WV1]: This looks weirdly formatted. But probably
just on my screen