Zachary Bennett

Zachary Bennett is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and Political Science at Norwich University’s College of Arts & Sciences. His research focuses on environmental history, specifically how natural resources and energy shaped colonization in North America and the Atlantic World.

• Ph.D.: Early American History and African Diaspora, Rutgers University
• M.A.: History, Miami University
• B.A.: History, Northern Michigan University

His work examines the intersection of ecological systems, colonial expansion, and Indigenous-settler dynamics. He emphasizes waterways as contested sites of power and cultural exchange in the Northeast, reframing English conquest through environmental lenses.

Bennett’s publications analyze themes like rivercraft, waterpower struggles, and energy history, reflecting broader trends in environmental and Indigenous historiography. His research has appeared in Early American Studies and New England Quarterly, with one article earning the John M. Murrin Prize.

• Scientific Award: John M. Murrin Prize from Early American Studies (2023)

At Norwich, he teaches courses on colonial North America, the Age of Revolutions, Native Americans, and the African Diaspora. His upcoming book, Contested Currents: Rivers and the Remaking of New England, explores how waterpower shaped regional transformation, followed by a project on the Anglo-Wabanaki Wars (17th–18th centuries).