About
Sam White is Professor in the Department of History at Ohio State University, specializing in environmental history. He holds an M.A. in Middle East Studies and Modern History from the University of St. Andrews (2002) and a Ph.D. in History from Columbia University (2008). Prior to joining OSU in 2013, he served as Assistant Professor at Oberlin College for five years.
His research focuses on reconstructing past climate variability using natural and human records, examining societal responses to extreme weather events during periods like the 'Little Ice Age.' White's work integrates interdisciplinary approaches to analyze how historical societies coped with environmental challenges.
Publications explore climate impacts on Ottoman and North American colonial societies. Recent work examines famine dynamics, disease ecology, and cultural adaptations to climatic stress across early modern empires.
- Fernand Braudel Senior Fellowship (2021-2022)
- Kathleen Fitzpatrick Visiting Fellowship (2017)
Leads collaborative projects including the Palgrave Handbook to Climate History and co-founded the Climate History Network. Current research investigates climate-driven migration patterns in 17th-century Mediterranean societies.
