معرفی
Strother E. Roberts serves as Associate Professor of History at Bowdoin College, specializing in the environmental and economic history of early modern North America with emphasis on indigenous and Euro-American communities in New England from initial contact through the Early Republic period. His scholarship examines transformative ecological processes within trans-Atlantic commodity networks.
His educational background includes a PhD (2011) and MA (2006) in History from Northwestern University, complemented by an MA (2003) and BS in History & Economics (2001) from Kansas State University. This interdisciplinary training informs his cross-cutting approach to historical ecology.
Roberts' research centers on human-environment interactions in colonial contexts, particularly how Native nations and European settlers reshaped landscapes through participation in global markets. His acclaimed monograph Colonial Ecology, Atlantic Economy: Transforming Nature in Early Modern New England (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019) analyzes the Connecticut River Valley as a microcosm of ecological transformation. Current work investigates human-canine relationships through a second book on European and indigenous dogs in early New England and New France, revealing how animal histories illuminate colonial power dynamics.
His publication trajectory demonstrates a consistent focus on environmental transformation, with recent works expanding into animal studies and climate history. This evolution reflects broader scholarly trends toward non-human agency and interdisciplinary environmental analysis within early American historiography.
His research has been recognized through prestigious fellowships:
- American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship
- Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship
- American Philosophical Society Fellowship
- New England Regional Fellowship Consortium Fellowship
- Henry E. Huntington Library Fellowship
These awards supported extensive archival research for his monograph and articles appearing in Ethnohistory, The New England Quarterly, and Agricultural History. Roberts teaches courses including HIST 1340 (America and the Origins of Globalization), HIST 2018 (North American Indian History), and HIST/ENVS 2504 (Animals in American History), mentoring undergraduate research in environmental and indigenous history through Bowdoin's strong liberal arts framework.
