I am a writer, historical researcher, curator, and editor. As a historian, my focus is the history of expeditions, natural history, extreme environments, and material culture in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In particular, I look at the gear explorers carried with them on their travels - to the polar regions, to high-altitude mountains, to tropical and arid places - and how this gear shaped their experiences and the cultural worlds of which they were part. In short, I unpack packing.

I’ve worked as a museum administrator and curator, an academic project manager, and a writer and web content creator, including recent freelance projects with Trivium Interactive, Yale University’s Energy History Online project, and the Maxine Greene Institute. I’m also currently a manager and buyer at Scattered Books in Chappaqua, New York.

I hold a Ph.D. from Yale University’s History of Science and Medicine program. In June of 2022, I defended my dissertation, entitled “The Right Stuff: Material Culture, Comfort, and the Making of Explorers, 1820-1940,” which was awarded the Hans Gatzke Prize by Yale’s History Department, as an outstanding dissertation in a field of European history. I’m currently working to develop my dissertation into a book, as well as co-editing a volume on polar exploration and science with Dr. Daniella McCahey. I’m also the Associate Editor of the history and philosophy of science journal Endeavour. Plus I have lots of other projects in progress, including a special issue on objects and expeditions that I’m co-editing with Dr. Eike-Christian Heine.

I’m passionate about bringing my historical research to wide audiences, and this website showcases both my scholarly and public-facing work. Please feel free to get in touch or check out my academic C.V. or my (slightly outdated) professional resumé. I’m also on Bluesky, where I post stuff on exploration, material culture, outdoor gear, and extreme environments.

EDUCATION

Ph.D., History: Program in History of Science and Medicine → Yale University, 2023

M.A. and M. Phil., History, Program in History of Science and Medicine → Yale University, 2019

M.A., Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture → Bard Graduate Center, 2015

Professional Certificate, Arts Administration → New York University, 2011

B.A., Anthropology with minor in Art History → University of Chicago, 2008