M. Chris Low, Environmental Humanities Research Professor (2023-2025)
Since the 1970s, the petro-kingdoms of the Arabian Peninsula have conquered water
scarcity
through the adoption of desalination technology. Fossil fuels have become the key
ingredients in
the manufacture of man-made water. Mirroring the region’s ethos of endless energy,
desalination
has fueled an equally problematic environmental imaginary of “infinite water,” obscuring
the
region’s acute vulnerability to climate change. Read more about Dr. Low's research.
Previous recipients:
Rachel Mason Dentinger, History (2021-22)
- Natural Insecticides & Evolutionary Warfare in the History of Coevolutionary Studies (1940s-2000s)
Katharina Gerstenberger, WLC (2019-2021)
- Disturbed Places and Troubled Times: Narrating Bikini Atoll, Chernobyl, Fukushima
Carlos Gray Santana, PHIL (2017-19)
Benjamin Cohen, HIST (2015-17)
-
Out of the Woods: Seeing Nature in the Every Day, winner of the Reading the West Book Award in Nonfiction for 2018 from the Mountain and Plains Independent Booksellers Association
Danielle Endres, COMM inaugural term (2006-2007)
Research Professorship Benefits:
- One course-release per year
- Annual research funding of $1,500
- Engagement with the intellectual life of the EH community
- A public presentation and opportunity to celebrate your research at the end of your term
The EH Research Professor is supported by generous funding from the Kendeda Fund. All faculty members from the College of Humanities who wish to pursue environmental research from humanities perspectives are encouraged to apply. Our next application cycle will be during Fall 2024.