Gerard Fitzgerald

Gerard Fitzgerald is a Lecturer in the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science. He holds a Visiting Scholar appointment at The Greenhouse Center for Environmental Humanities at the University of Stavanger, Norway, and co-leads the War and Environment Special Interest Group (SIG) of the American Society for Environmental History (ASEH). His research bridges military history, environmental studies, and public health, focusing on the interplay between warfare, industrialization, and ecological transformation.

Dr. Fitzgerald’s education includes a Ph.D. and MS from Carnegie Mellon University, a BA from the University of Georgia, and a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT’s Dibner Center for the History of Science and Technology. His work examines the military-industrial-academic complex’s environmental impacts, particularly in the creation of chemical/biological weapons, and the Anthropocene’s security implications.

His research interests span military-environmental history, technology’s role in industrialization, airborne disease history, and climate change’s geopolitical dimensions. He explores how environmental factors and militarization have shaped conflict across the American Civil War, World Wars, and Cold War eras.

Fitzgerald’s publications analyze historical case studies like Edgewood Arsenal’s chemical warfare origins, WWI’s environmental consequences, and pandemic responses. He emphasizes urgent global security threats posed by anthropogenic climate change, linking historical patterns to modern ecological crises.

Teaching focuses on ethics in engineering and professional responsibility, reflecting his commitment to integrating historical insights into contemporary societal challenges. His interdisciplinary approach bridges STEM fields with humanities to address humanity’s complex relationship with warfare and environment.