Education
Ph.D. in History, Stony Brook University, 2014
Dissertation: “Prisonland: Environment, Society, and Mass Incarceration on New York’s Northern Frontier, 1845-1999.”
Advisor: Christopher Sellers
Committee: Robert Chase, Connie Chiang, Donna Rilling, and Nancy Tomes
M.A. in History, Binghamton University, 2003
Advisor: Melvyn Dubofsky
Committee: Sarah Elbert, Richard Lindstrom, and Brendan McConville
B.A. in History (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), Binghamton University, 2001
Professional Appointments
Queensborough Community College / CUNY, Department of History
Associate Professor of History, 2023-present
Assistant Professor of History, 2016-2023
Substitute Assistant Professor of History, 2014-2016
Pratt Institute, Department of Social Science and Cultural Studies
Visiting Instructor of Sustainability Studies, 2015-present
Publications
Books
A Prison in the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country. Amherst and Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2020. A volume in the series Environmental History of the Northeast.
Essays
“Prison labor: The case for thanking Adirondack inmates.” Adirondack Explorer. Jan. / Feb. 2022, pp. 40-41.
“Prisons for Sale, Histories not Included.” Edge Effects. Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, Center for Culture, History, and Environment, University of Wisconsin-Madison. October 2018.
“Toward an Environmental History of American Prisons.” Process: A Blog for American History. Organization of American Historians. June 2017.
“Up the River and to The Woods.” New York Archives Magazine. Vol. 15, No. 3. Winter 2016, pp. 14-17.
“Reexamining the North Country Prison Industry after Matt and Sweat.” Undercurrents: News from the Grassroots. Vol. 2, No. 4. October / November 2015.
“K-9 Units and the History of Adirondack Prison Escapes.” Adirondack Peeks. Vol. 52, No. 2. Fall 2015, pp. 16-17.
Encyclopedia Entries
“Private Housing,” in Kathleen Brosnan, ed., Encyclopedia of American Environmental History, 4 vols. New York: Facts on File, 2010.
Reviews
Jonathan D. Anzalone, Battles of the North Country: Wilderness Politics and Recreational Development in the Adirondack State Park, 1920-1980. Boston and Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2018. New York History, vol. 102, no. 2, Winter 2021-2022, pp. 406-408.
Kimberly Jarvis, From the Mountains to the Sea: Protecting Nature in Postwar New Hampshire. Boston and Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2020. H-Net Reviews, July 2021.
Anne E. Parsons, From Asylum to Prison: Deinstitutionalization and the Rise of Mass Incarceration after 1945. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2018. The History Teacher. Vol. 52, No. 3. May 2019. 532-533.
Connie Y. Chiang, Nature Behind Barbed Wire: An Environmental History of the Japanese-American Incarceration. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. Environment and History. Vol. 25, No. 3. August 2019. 482-484.
Conferences and Academic Presentations
Conference Organization
Sports and Politics. Verso Books. Brooklyn, New York. December 2018.
International Conference on War and Imprisonment. CUNY Graduate Center. New York, New York. May 2018.
Dangerous Trade: Industrial Hazards Across a Globalizing World. Stony Brook University. Stony Brook, New York. December 2007.
Panel Organization
Unfree Labor and the U.S. Environment. American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting. Boston, Massachusetts. March 2023.
Racist Environmentalism. American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. March 2020. Conference cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Doing Prison Public History: Examples and Challenges. National Council on Public History Annual Meeting. Indianapolis, Indiana. April 2017.
Prisons and Nature in U.S. History. Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. April 2012.
Hard Times in the Park: Recessions, Depressions, and the Environment. American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting. Phoenix, Arizona. April 2011.
Panel Chair
Controlling Nature: Environmental Sites of Liberation, Dispossession, and Oppression. American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting. Boston, Massachusetts. March 2023.
Unfree Labor and the U.S. Environment. American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting. Boston, Massachusetts. March 2023.
Women and Social Change. International Conference on War and Social Movements. CUNY Graduate Center. New York, New York. May 2019.
Doing Prison Public History: Examples and Challenges. National Council on Public History Annual Meeting. Indianapolis, Indiana. April 2017.
Postwar Reception of Sexual Violence. International Conference on War and Sexual Violence. CUNY Graduate Center. New York, New York. April 2016.
The Promise and Perils of Environmental Planning and Development. American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting. Phoenix, Arizona. April 2011.
Panel Comment
Prison Block. Panel discussant with Brian Mann (North Country Public Radio / NPR reporter), Aaron Woolf (New York filmmaker, 2014 Congressional candidate), and Nick Ludwick (Iowa prison warden). Lake Champlain International Film Festival. Plattsburgh, New York. November 2015.
Conference Presentations
“Imprisoned Workers and the Black and Brown Landscape of New York’s Adirondack Park.” American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting. Boston, Massachusetts. March 2023.
“‘The Dregs of New York’: Racist Environmentalism and Incarceration in Upstate New York, 1981-2009.” American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. March 2020. Conference cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
“From Iron to Incarceration: The Legacies of Mining in an Adirondack Prison Town.” Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 2019.
“Doing Prison History in Prisonland: The New York Experience.” National Council on Public History Annual Meeting. Indianapolis, Indiana. April 2017.
“Eminent Domain, Environmental Politics, and New York’s $1.00 Prison.” American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting. Chicago, Illinois. March 2017.
“Social Activism, Environmentalism, and the Construction of an Adirondack Prisonland, 1975-1999.” American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C. March 2015.
“Prisons and Nature in New York’s Adirondack Mountains, 1845-1999.” Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. April 2012.
“Prisons as Economic Savior in New York’s Adirondacks, 1975-1999.” American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting. Phoenix, Arizona. April 2011.
“Nature, Prisons, and the Olympics: Housing Athletes and Convicts at Lake Placid, New York, 1972-1990.” American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting. Portland, Oregon. March 2010.
“Prisons, Nature, and Social Reform in New York’s Adirondack Wilderness, 1844-1861.” Conference on New York State History. Cooperstown, New York. June 2007.
Colloquia
“Environmental Politics, Race, and Mass Incarceration in the Adirondack Park, 1976-1999.” New York Metro Seminar in Environmental History. Columbia University. New York, New York. October 2015.
“Olympic Village or Prison Town? Building the Federal Prison at Ray Brook, New York, 1975-1990.” Spring Colloquium Series. Department of History. Stony Brook University. Stony Brook, New York. April 2009.
“Prisons, Nature, and Labor in New York’s Adirondack Wilderness.” Dissertation Prospectus Mini-Conference. Department of History. Stony Brook University. Stony Brook, New York. May 2006.
“‘Soviet Vultures’ in the ‘Valley of Opportunity’: Prosperity and Recovery in New York’s Triple Cities, 1933-1935.” Graduate Student Mini-Conference. Department of History. Binghamton University. Binghamton, New York. December 2002.
Invited Talks
A Prison in the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Long Lake Public Library. Long Lake, New York. July 2023.
“Prisons in the Woods: The Environmental Impact of Mass Incarceration.” Eastern State Penitentiary. Member Saturdays Lecture Series. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 2023.
“Recovering the History of Imprisoned Labor in the Adirondack Park, One Discarded Photo at a Time.” Pratt Institute. Center for Critical Discard Research. Earth Action Week Conference. Brooklyn, New York. March 2023.
A Prison in the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country. State University of New York College at Cortland. W.H. Parks Center for Environmental and Outdoor Education. Raquette Lake, New York. February 2023.
“Rethinking Vacant Adirondack Prisons.” Adirondack Architectural Heritage. Sponsored by John Brown Lives! and Humanities NY. Keeseville, New York. February 2023.
“Prisons and Parks in New York’s North Country: Paradox or Partnership?” Keynote Address. Academy of Leisure Sciences Annual Meeting. New Orleans, Louisiana. February 2023.
“Imprisoned Workers and Environmental Planning in New York’s Adirondack Park.” Queensborough Community College / CUNY. Lectures in Inclusive History Series. Bayside, New York. November 2022.
A Prison in the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country. Paul Smith’s College. Adirondack Park Visitor Interpretive Center. Fall Lecture Series. Paul Smiths, New York. October 2022.
A Prison in the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country. CUNY Academy for the Humanities and Sciences. Book Talk Series. New York, New York. October 2022.
“Prisons, Place, and Power.” Correctional Association of New York. New York, New York. September 2022.
“Camp Gabriels: Sanatorium, College Campus, and Carceral Facility.” Adirondack Architectural Heritage. Former Gabriels Correctional Facility. Gabriels, New York. August 2022.
“Incarceration, Wilderness, and the Adirondack Paradox.” Adirondacks for All: Identity and Environmental Justice in the Adirondack Park. Lecture Series sponsored by the Adirondack Experience: The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, Adirondack Diversity Initiative, the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks (The Wild Center), and The Nature Conservancy. Blue Mountain Lake, New York. June 2022.
“Environment, Coerced Labor, and the History of Incarceration.” CUNY Academy for the Humanities and Sciences. Feliks Gross Endowment Award Lecture. New York, New York. May 2022.
“Environment and Incarceration: Intersectional Histories.” Pratt Institute. Department of Social Science and Cultural Studies Faculty Lecture Series. Brooklyn, New York. April 2022.
“Exploring Carceral Architecture in the Adirondacks.” Adirondack Architectural Heritage. Keeseville, New York. March 2022.
A Prison in the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country. Lake Placid-North Elba Historical Society. Lake Placid, New York. January 2022.
A Prison in the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country. Historic Saranac Lake. Saranac Laboratory Museum. Saranac Lake, New York. November 2021.
“Prisons, Environment, and Race in the Adirondack Park.” Kelly Adirondack Center. Union College. Niskayuna, New York. October 2021.
“Exploring the History of Adirondack Prisons.” The Adirondack Experience. The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake. Monday Evening Summer Xplorations Lecture Series. Blue Mountain Lake, New York. August 2021.
A Prison in the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country. Empire State Engagements Podcast. Dr. Robert Chiles, Host. College Park, Maryland. June 2021.
A Prison in the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country. New Books Network Podcast: Environmental Studies. Dr. Brian Hamilton, Host. Deerfield, Massachusetts. June 2021.
A Prison in the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country. John Brown Lives! Westport, New York. May 2021.
A Prison in the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country. Deerfield Academy. Deerfield, Massachusetts. May 2021.
A Prison in the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country. University of Southern Indiana. Evansville, Indiana. March 2021.
A Prison in the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country. Paul Smith’s College. Paul Smiths, New York. March 2021.
Fiftieth Anniversary of Earth Day. The Calhoun School. New York, New York. April 2020. Event cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
“Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country.” College Art Museum. State University of New York at Plattsburgh. In conjunction with “States of Incarceration” Exhibit. Plattsburgh, New York. March 2020.
Dialogue with Lonnie Lewis, Jr. and Soffiyah Elijah, Executive Director, Alliance of Families for Justice. Justice Collective 5th Regional Conference on the Impact of Mass Incarceration on Families and Communities. Heaven Hill Farm. Lake Placid, New York. July 2019.
Dialogue with Tyrell Muhammad, Project Associate, Correctional Association of New York. State University of New York at Plattsburgh. In conjunction with John Brown Lives! and SUNY Plattsburgh Diversity Week. Recorded for broadcast by North Country Public Radio. Plattsburgh, New York. February 2017.
“The Environmental History of Adirondack Prisons.” State University of New York at Potsdam. Co-sponsored by Departments of History, Environmental Studies, and Sociology. Potsdam, New York. November 2015.
“The Environmental History of Adirondack Prisons.” Department of History. State University of New York at Potsdam. Potsdam, New York. November 2015.
“Prison History and Memory in New York’s North Country.” Whallonsburg Grange Hall. Co-sponsored by John Brown Lives! and the Whallonsburg Grange Hall Association. Essex, New York. August 2015.
“Prospects for Prison Reform in New York after Matt and Sweat.” Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Plattsburgh. Co-sponsored by John Brown Lives!, the North Country Underground Railroad Association, and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Plattsburgh. Plattsburgh, New York. August 2015.
“Richard Matt, David Sweat, and the Challenge of Adirondack Nature.” Adirondack Research Center. Saranac Lake Free Library. Co-sponsored by John Brown Lives! and the Saranac Lake Free Library. Moderated by Brian Mann, North Country Public Radio / NPR reporter. Saranac Lake, New York. August 2015.
“Clinton’s ‘Great Escape’ and the Contested Terrain of North Country Prisons.” Keene Valley Congregational Church. Co-sponsored by John Brown Lives! and the Keene Valley Congregational Church, UCC. Keene Valley, New York. July 2015.
News Media Appearances
Interview with Reporter Holly Riddle. “A gap in Adirondack history.” Adirondack Explorer. November 2021.
Interview with Reporter Emily Russell. North Country Public Radio. Unpublished. Plattsburgh, New York. March 2, 2020.
Interview with Staff Writer Mark Davis. “Dannemora Breakout turns the Prison Spotlight on Guards.” Seven Days. Burlington, Vermont. July 19, 2016.
Interview with North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley. “Correctional Association Releases Report Detailing Abuse at Clinton Correctional.” WAMC / Northeast Public Radio. Plattsburgh, New York. June 10, 2016.
Interview with North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley. “Clinton Correctional Remains In Lockdown Following Weekend Prisoner Altercations.” WAMC / Northeast Public Radio. Plattsburgh, New York. September 1, 2015.
Interview with North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley. “Retribution Against Inmates Not Unexpected in Wake of Escape.” WAMC / Northeast Public Radio. Plattsburgh, New York. August 12, 2015.
Interview with Reporter Pete Demola. “Expert to offer lecture series on prison break.” Sun Community News. Elizabethtown, New York. August 6, 2015.
Interview with Associate Producer Emmanuel Psihountas. NBC Peacock Productions. History Channel Documentary on Prison Escapes. Unpublished. New York, New York. July 30, 2015.
Interview with Reporter Paul Grondahl. “Dozens escaped Dannemora prison before Richard Matt and David Sweat.” Albany Times-Union. Albany, New York. July 8, 2015.
Interview with Professor Alexandra Cox. Prison Voices Project Radio Collective. WGXC 90.7 FM. New Paltz, New York. July 1, 2015.
Interview with U.S. News intern Katie Reilly. “NY prison escapee’s body, unclaimed by family, may be buried by county.” Reuters. New York, New York. June 30, 2015.
Interview with Stephanie Gosk. “New York Prison Break: Arrested Guard Pleads ‘Not Guilty.'” NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. NBC News. New York, New York. June 25, 2015.
Interview with Miguel Almaguer. NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. NBC News. Unpublished. New York, New York. June 16, 2015.
Interview with Toure, Ari Melber, Krystal Ball, and Abby Huntsman. “Dangers in the Inmate-Worker Relationship.” The Cycle. MSNBC. New York, New York. June 12, 2015.
Interview with Anchor Dan Matheson. CTV News Channel. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 11, 2015.
Interview with Staff Writer Tom Salitsky. “Not Your Typical Prison.” Adirondack Daily Enterprise. Saranac Lake, New York. June 11, 2015.
Interview with Field Producer Lisa Andracke. Today. NBC News. Unpublished. New York, New York. June 11, 2015.
Interview with Host Audie Cornish. “Prison Breaks Past: Several Inmates Have Tried to Escape from N.Y. Prison.” All Things Considered. National Public Radio. New York, New York. June 11, 2015.
Interview with National Correspondent Barbara Goldberg. “New York prison escape among decade’s most audacious breakouts.” Reuters. Washington, D.C. June 11, 2015.
Interview with Adirondack Bureau Chief Brian Mann. “A Dozen Officials Suspended As Probe Into N.Y. Prison Break Widens.” “Update: ‘Dozens of inmates’ say they were abused, beaten following Dannemora escape.” “In Clinton Dannemora prison, violence, an inmate death and new scrutiny.” North Country Public Radio. Saranac Lake, New York. June 10, 2015.
Interview with Managing Editor Peter Crowley. “Local prison historian interviewed all over.” Adirondack Daily Enterprise. June 10, 2015.
Interview with Tim Denis. “Jeff Hall, History professor, on Dannemora/Clinton state prison.” The Tim Denis Morning Show. 610 CKTB Bell Media Niagara. St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. June 10, 2015.
Interview with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota. New Day. CNN. New York, New York. June 10, 2015.
Interview with Investigative Reporters Michael Schwirtz and Michael Winerip. “Escape from Clinton Prison Was Neither the First, Nor the Boldest.” The New York Times. New York, New York. June 9, 2015.
Interview with North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley. “Prison Historian Discusses Dannemora’s Prisoner Escape Annals.” WAMC / Northeast Public Radio. Plattsburgh, New York. June 9, 2015.
Interview with North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley. “Search Continues On Third Day for Escaped Prisoners.” WAMC / Northeast Public Radio. Plattsburgh, New York. June 9, 2015.
Interview with Associate Editor Jamie Fuller. Unpublished. New York Magazine. New York, New York. June 8, 2015.
Interview with Staff Writer Mary Esch. “History of Violence Plagues Prison Where Breakout Occurred.” Associated Press. Albany, New York. June 8, 2015.
Interview with Managing Editor Peter Crowley. “Historian says ‘No prison is 100% secure.'” Adirondack Daily Enterprise. Saranac Lake, New York. June 7, 2015.
Interview with Editor-in-Chief Lois Clermont. “Prison saw other breaks for freedom in early years, researcher says.” Press-Republican. Plattsburgh, New York. June 6, 2015.
Awards
Feliks Gross Endowment Award. CUNY Academy for the Humanities and Sciences. 2021.