Professor John M. Mackenzie (2 October 1943 – 18 September 2026)

A note from Andrew Johnson, Partner, The White Horse Press. We are sad to report the death of Professor John M. MacKenzie on 18 September 2026. I first met John 35 years ago to discuss the feasibility of a new environmental history journal, and he was a member of the editorial board when Environment and … More Professor John M. Mackenzie (2 October 1943 – 18 September 2026)

The Climate Paradox of the World’s Two Biggest Powers

In this blog, George Martine and Igor Cavallini Johansen preview their new article in The Journal of Population and Sustainability, ‘Contrasting Stances on Sustainability by the USA and China: Political Economy and Demographic Paradoxes in the Two Main Agents of Climate Change’, which will be published in the next few weeks. The future of the … More The Climate Paradox of the World’s Two Biggest Powers

The Great Plains as A Bioregional Warzone

Blake Johnson’s blog, originally published as a Snapshot in Environment and History (May 206) posits the Great Plains of North America in the 1870s as a ‘Bioregional Warzone’ where a complex of environmental and socio-political issues ‘highlight the intersectionality between colonisation, environmental change and the nature of conflict itself’.  Environmental histories of war are not … More The Great Plains as A Bioregional Warzone

Soybeans, Combines and Agricultural ‘Industrialisation’ in Benton County, Indiana (and well beyond), 1920–1945

In this blog, originally polished as a ‘Snapshot’ in Environment and History (May 2026), J. Jacob Jones traces the small beginnings of the soybean agro-industry and the profound change that came with agricultural mechanisation in Indiana. On a late summer day in l921, Benton County, Indiana Agricultural Extension Agent P.T. Brown photographed an attentive but … More Soybeans, Combines and Agricultural ‘Industrialisation’ in Benton County, Indiana (and well beyond), 1920–1945

Why pronatalism fails the planetary health test

This blog republishes an essay from the latest issue of The Journal of Population and Sustainability in which a collective of high-profile scholars argues against pronatalism. The authors are Céline Delacroix, Marleen Temmerman, Nandita Bajaj, Ann M. Moore, Phoebe Barnard, William J. Ripple, William E. Rees, Michael B. Gerrard, Diana Coole, Robert Engelman, Helen Kopnina, … More Why pronatalism fails the planetary health test

Exhibition review: ‘In Bloom: how plants changed our world’

In this blog Isis Brook, deputy editor of Plant Perspectives, reports on the exhibition ‘In Bloom: how plants changed our world‘, at Oxford’s Ashmolean museum (until 16 August). I was in Oxford recently for an exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum. ‘In Bloom: how plants changed our world’, was the title.  (It is running until 16 August 2026.) … More Exhibition review: ‘In Bloom: how plants changed our world’

Encounters with the Sublime: On Doing Environmental History Outside the Office

In this blog Harrison Croft dons his ‘stout pair of boots’ and takes environmental history out of the office’ in a second response to Libby Robin’s essay in Global Environment’s new ICEHO series ‘Building Environmental History Around the World’. Margaret Cook’s response was published on 9 June 2026. The long and scorching summer is finally over. It’s March 2022 and I … More Encounters with the Sublime: On Doing Environmental History Outside the Office

An Environmental-History Pracademic: Starting to paddle in flooded waters

In this blog, the first of two responding to Libby Robin’s essay in Global Environment’s new ICEHO series ‘Building Environmental History Around the World’, Margaret Cook describes her trajectory to becoming an ‘environmental-history pracademic’. A second essay by Harry Croft will be published in the coming days. There is something about being in a different … More An Environmental-History Pracademic: Starting to paddle in flooded waters

Amsterdam, a city with two water problems

In this blog Milja van Tielhof introduces the subjects covered in more detail in her just-published Open Access paper in Environment and History, ‘Building Cisterns to Buffer Water Scarcity. The Road to Public Responsibility for Drinking Water in Amsterdam, 1670–1790’ (online first May 2026). Amsterdam, with its elegant patrician houses, beautiful churches and tree-lined canals, … More Amsterdam, a city with two water problems

From Trenches to Trees: Rebuilding Madrid’s War-Torn University

In this blog Santiago Gorostiza, Alejandro Pérez-Olivares, Daniel Oviedo Silva and José María Sánchez Laforet synthesise the contribution of their recent Open Access article in Environment and History (online first May 2025), The Long Shadow of the Pines: Vegetation in the Birth, Destruction and Reconstruction of Madrid’s University City (1927–1956). Upon entering the hall of the Faculty of … More From Trenches to Trees: Rebuilding Madrid’s War-Torn University