Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Faculty Affiliate in History
Education
M.S. Cornell University, Natural Resources
Ph.D. Cornell University, Natural Resources
Areas of Expertise
environmental history, history of environmental science, science & technology studies, conservation biology, natural history, evolutionary ecology
Courses
ENVI 229 / HIST 264 SEM
Environmental History (not offered 2024/25)ENVI 240 TUT
Conservation and Climate Change (not offered 2024/25)ENVI 250 / STS 250 SEM
Environmental Justice (not offered 2024/25)ENVI 275 / STS 275 SEM
Environmental Science, Policy, and Justice (not offered 2024/25)ENVI 380 / STS 379 SEM
Animals and Society (not offered 2024/25)ENVI 465 SEM
Solutions to the Biodiversity Crisis (not offered 2024/25)Scholarship/Creative Work
Select publications:
Laura. J. Martin, Wild by Design: The Rise of Ecological Restoration (Harvard University Press, 2022). The Nation
Laura J. Martin, “Proving Grounds: Ecological Fieldwork in the Pacific and the Materialization of Ecosystems,” Environmental History 23 (2018): 567–592. pdf
Bradley Cantrell, Laura J. Martin, Erle C. Ellis, “Designing Autonomy: Opportunities for New Wildness in the Anthropocene,” Trends in Ecology and Evolution 32 (2017): 156-166. pdf, The Atlantic, Landscape Architecture Magazine
Laura J. Martin et al., “Evolution of the indoor biome,” Trends in Ecology and Evolution 30 (2015): 223-232. pdf, New York Times
Laura J. Martin, Bernd Blossey, Erle C. Ellis, “Mapping where ecologists work: biases in the global distribution of terrestrial ecological observations,” Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 10 (2012): 195-201. pdf, Nature News
“The Women Who Saved Wildflowers,” Sierra Magazine, June 2, 2022.
“Earth Day is a Chance to Win the Messaging War Against Polluters,” The Washington Post, 22 April 2022.
“Is Humanity Doomed? That Depends on Us,” The Los Angeles Times, 28 March 2022.
“An Ambitious Plan Would Formally Protect 30 Percent of Earth by 2030. But There’s a Problem,” Slate, 11 May 2021.
“Avoiding Carbon Colonialism,” The Hill, 26 April 2021.
“G. Evelyn Hutchinson’s Exultation in Natural History,” American Scientist, July-August 2016.
“The X-ray Images that Showed Midcentury Scientists How Radiation Affects an Ecosystem,” Slate, 28 December 2015.
Current Committees
- Environmental Studies Program