Helen M. Rozwadowski

Helen M. Rozwadowski is a Professor of History and founder of the Maritime Studies program at the University of Connecticut's Avery Point campus. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania (1996) and has taught environmental history, history of science, and interdisciplinary maritime studies courses. Her research focuses on ocean history, marine science policy, and the cultural and technological dimensions of human-ocean interaction.

Key publications include Vast Expanses: A History of the Oceans (2018), Fathoming the Ocean (2005, Davis Prize winner), and The Sea Knows No Boundaries (2002). She has co-edited foundational volumes in oceanography history such as Soundings and Crossings (2017) and Extremes: Oceanography’s Adventures at the Poles (2007).

Rozwadowski has received grants from the NEH, NSF, and Smithsonian Institution, and awards including the Ida and Henry Schuman Prize. Her work bridges environmental humanities, public history, and marine science policy. She advocates for ocean literacy and critiques historical racial biases in ocean science, as seen in her 2020 paper on Matthew Fontaine Maury’s legacy.

Her research spans topics like 20th-century marine science diplomacy, Cold War undersea exploration, and the intersection of cultural narratives with scientific practices. She has engaged in public history projects, including virtual exhibitions on ocean paradoxes and ocean stewardship.