This research project explores the history of offshore oil and gas development in the Beaufort Sea (Alaska, Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories) since the late 1960s.  I am interested in applying concepts from historical political ecology and the history of science to analyze how a range of historical actors shaped the future of the Arctic oil frontier–including corporate execs, civil servants, politicians, Inuit activists, scientists and conservationists.

One such concept is “agnotology,” or the deliberate production and maintenance of a state of limited knowledge about the ecological risks of offshore oil activity. I draw on records from US and Canadian federal regulatory agencies; correspondence between Inuit organizations and those agencies; and environmental non-governmental organizations like the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee. I also employ digital text analysis methods, often through Voyant Tools.

Check out the article, “Ignorance and Environmental History: The Opening of an Arctic Offshore Oil Frontier, 1968-1976,” Environment and History 30, no. 4 (November 2024): 665-694″

I am also interested in the public information campaigns that oil industry groups carried out to convince the public, regulators, and opposition/activists that offshore oil drilling was acceptable. Between 2024 and 2026, I am working on an article that details such campaigns for the Beaufort Sea over the 1970s.