Dagomar Degroot
201-3825 Porter St. NW, Washington, D. C. 20016.
Phone: 202-848-7977. Email: [email protected].
Web: DagomarDegroot.com, HistoricalClimatology.com.
Education:
2014
PhD, History. York University.
Dissertation Title: “The Frigid Golden Age: Experiencing Climate Change in the
Dutch Republic, 1560-1720.”
Defended with no revisions. Nominated for Faculty of Graduate Studies and
American Society for Environmental History awards.
Doctoral Supervisor: Richard C. Hoffmann.
Completed comprehensive exams in Environmental History, Modern European
History, and the History of Science and Medicine.
2008
MA, History. McMaster University.
Major Research Paper: “‘Go Raise Hell:’ Prejudice, Ignorance, and the Failures of
American Support for the Afghan Mujahedin.”
2007
BA, Joint Honours. History and English, McMaster University.
Professional Appointments:
2015-
Tenure-track Assistant Professor of Environmental History, Department of
History, Georgetown University.
Publications:
Books:
2016
The Frigid Golden Age: Experiencing Climate Change in the Dutch Republic,
1560-1720. Undergoing revisions for Cambridge University Press.
Refereed Journal Articles:
2016
“Changes in a Distant Land: An Environmental History of a Comet Crash on
Jupiter.” In Peer Review.
2015
“‘Les bois engendrent les frimas et les gelées:’ comprendre le climat en NouvelleFrance” With co-author Colin Coates. Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française
68:3-4 (2015): 197-219.
Degroot 2
2015
“Exploring the North in a Changing Climate: The Little Ice Age and the Journals
of Henry Hudson, 1607-1611.” Journal of Northern Studies 9:1 (2015): 69-91.
2015
“Testing the Limits of Climate History: The Quest for a Northeast Passage During
the Little Ice Age, 1594-1597.” Journal of Interdisciplinary History XLV:4
(Spring 2015): 459-484.
2014
“‘Never such weather known in these seas:’ Climatic Fluctuations and the AngloDutch Wars of the Seventeenth Century, 1652–1674.” Environment and History
20.2 (May 2014): 239-273.
Book Chapters:
2016
“Climate Change and Conflict.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Climate History,
ed. Christian Pfister, Franz Mauelshagen, and Sam White. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2015 (forthcoming).
2016
“Explorations in Historical Climatology.” In Conversations in Environmental
History, ed. Jan Oosthoek. Canberra: ANU Press, 2015 (forthcoming).
Book Reviews:
2016
“The New Histories of Global Climate Change.” The Journal of World History
27:1 (Spring, 2016).
2014
Parker, Geoffrey. Global Crisis: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the
Seventeenth Century. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013. Reviewed in EInternational Relations. Available from: http://www.e-ir.info/2014/12/12/reviewglobal-crisis-war-climate-change-catastrophe-in-the-17th-century
Select Other Publications:
2015
“Assessing the Future During COP21.” HistoricalClimatology.com. Available
from: http://www.historicalclimatology.com/blog/assessing-the-future-duringcop21
2015
“Lessons from the Storm that Wasn’t.” HistoricalClimatology.com. Available
from: http://www.historicalclimatology.com/blog/lessons-from-the-storm-thatwasnt.
2015
“Whatever Happened to the Global Warming Pause?”
HistoricalClimatology.com. Available from:
http://www.historicalclimatology.com/blog/september-02nd-2015.
Degroot 3
2015
“Is Climate Change Behind the Syrian Civil War?” HistoricalClimatology.com.
Available from: http://www.historicalclimatology.com/blog/is-climate-changebehind-the-syrian-civil-war.
2015
“Towards a Climate History of the Solar System.” The Otter, blog of the Network
in Canadian History and Environment (NiCHE). Available from: http://nichecanada.org/2015/04/02/towards-a-climate-history-of-the-solar-system.
2014
“How Should We Measure Climate Change? What the Past Can Tell Us.” Active
History. Available from: http://activehistory.ca/2014/10/how-should-we-measureclimate-change-what-the-past-can-tell-us.
2014
“Does Climate Change Cause Social Crisis?” The Otter, blog of NiCHE.
Available from: http://niche-canada.org/2014/03/26/does-climate-change-causesocial-crisis.
2014
“Reconstructing the Future: Understanding Toronto’s Wild Weather of 2013.”
Active History. Available from: http://activehistory.ca/2014/01/reconstructing-thefuture-understanding-torontos-wild-weather-of-2014.
2013
“Northern Nations, Northern Natures: Alliteration and the Arctic in Stockholm.”
The Otter, blog of NiCHE. Available from: http://nichecanada.org/2013/11/18/northern-nations-northern-natures-alliteration-and-thearctic.
2013
“Understanding the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report: The Perspective of a
Climate Historian.” Active History. Available from:
http://activehistory.ca/2013/10/understanding-the-ipccs-fifth-assessment-reportfrom-the-perspective-of-a-climate-historian.
2013
“There and Back Again: A Canadian Environmental Historian goes to India.” The
Otter, blog of NiCHE. Available from: http://niche-canada.org/2013/03/11/thereand-back-again-a-canadian-environmental-historian-goes-to-india.
2012
“Hurricane Sandy: A Teachable Moment.” Active History. Available from:
http://activehistory.ca/2012/10/hurricane-sandy-a-teachable-moment.
2012
“The Historical Roots of Today’s Climate of Apathy.” Active History. Available
from: http://activehistory.ca/2012/10/the-historical-roots-of-todays-climate-ofapathy.
2012
“Cheering for Global Warming: what Europe’s Climatic Past can tell us about our
Attitudes Today.” Active History. Available from:
http://activehistory.ca/2012/04/cheering-for-global-warming-what-europesclimatic-past-can-tell-us-about-our-attitudes-today.
Degroot 4
2011
“Little Ice Age” in Climate Change: An Encyclopaedia of Science and History.
Brian Black et al. (Editors). Santa Barbara: ABC CLIO, 2012.
2011
“Historians, Global Warming, and the Mapping of Humanity’s Future,” Active
History. Available from: http://activehistory.ca/2011/09/historians-globalwarming-and-the-mapping-of-humanity’s-future.
2011
“Historians and Global Warming,” Active History. Available from:
http://activehistory.ca/2011/03/historians-and-global-warming.
Awards and Honours:
2015
Georgetown Environment Initiative (GEI) Impact Award, Georgetown
University, $13,000.
2015
Research Infrastructure Award, Georgetown University. $6,500.
2015
Fall 2015 Competitive Grant-in-Aid, Georgetown University. $1,415.
2015
ESEH Article Prize, awarded to the best article in European environmental history
published in 2013 and 2014. For “‘Never such weather known in these seas:’
Climatic Fluctuations and the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the Seventeenth Century,
1652–1674.” Environment and History 20.2 (May 2014): 239-273. $1,000.
2015
Travel grant to attend and present a paper at the European Society for
Environmental History (ESEH) biannual conference, Versailles, France. ESEH.
$300.
2014
Travel grant to attend and present a paper at the American Society for
Environmental History (ASEH) annual conference, Washington, USA. ASEH.
$500.
2014-16
SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship. $81,000. Declined second year.
2014
Traditional Fulbright Scholar Award. $12,500 (declined).
2014
Travel grant to contribute to the Paleoecology of Subarctic Seas Working Group
at the Ecosystem Studies of Subarctic Seas (ESSAS) Annual Meeting in
Copenhagen, Denmark. National Science Foundation (NSF). $1,500.
2013
Travel grant to attend and present a paper at the World Congress of
Environmental History in Guimarães, Portugal. NiCHE. $1,500.
2013
Travel grant to attend and present a paper at the Northern Nations, Northern
Natures workshop in Stockholm, Sweden. NiCHE. $500.
Degroot 5
2012-13
Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Government of Ontario. $15,000.
2012
Travel grant to attend and present a paper at the Past Global Changes (PAGES)
Fourth Open Science Meeting in Goa, India. Network in Canadian History and
Environment. $1,500.
2011
Fellowship at the International Institute for the History and Heritage of Cultural
Landscapes and Urban Environments (CLUE) at the Vrije Universiteit,
Amsterdam. €1,500.
2011
The Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement for the Joseph-Armand
Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, Government of Canada. $5,505.
2009-12
SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Doctoral),
Government of Canada. $105,000.
2008
Graduate Entrance Scholarship, York University. $4,000.
2007
Graduate Entrance Scholarship, McMaster University. $3,000.
2006
The University Senate Scholarships, McMaster University. $800.
Interviews:
2015
Interviewed by Bobbie Mills for “Does Climate Change Cause Violent
Conflict?”. Scenes of Reason. Available from:
https://www.scenesofreason.com/does-climate-change-cause-violent-conflict
2015
Interviewed environmental historians John McNeill, Richard Hoffmann, and Alan
MacEachern for “Teaching Climate History in a Warming World.”
HistoricalClimatology.com. Available from:
http://www.historicalclimatology.com/blog/teaching-climate-history
2015
Interviewed environmental historian Sam White for “The History of Climate
Change with Professor Sam White,” Episode 2 of the Climate History Podcast.
Available from: https://soundcloud.com/climatehistorypodcast/the-history-ofclimate-change-with-professor-sam-white
2015
Interviewed early modern historian Geoffrey Parker for “Climate Change and
Crisis: Lessons from the Past,” Episode 1 of the Climate History Podcast.
Available from: https://soundcloud.com/climatehistorypodcast/climate-changeand-crisis-lessons-from-the-past.
2015
Interviewed for “Go South, Young Historian?” The Otter, blog of the Network in
Canadian History and Environment (NiCHE). Available from: http://nichecanada.org/2015/06/10/go-south-young-historian.
Degroot 6
2015
Interviewed Miranda Massie, executive director of the Climate Museum, for “A
Conversation with Miranda Massie.” HistoricalClimatology.com. Available from:
http://www.historicalclimatology.com/interviews/a-conversation-with-mirandamassie.
2014
Interviewed climatologist Michael Mann for “A Conversation with Dr. Michael
Mann.” HistoricalClimatology.com. Available from:
http://www.historicalclimatology.com/interviews/a-conversation-with-dr-michaelmann.
2014
Interviewed by Kim Nursall for “Toronto winter blues: why the cold may be
getting you down.” Toronto Star. February 27, 2014. Available from:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/02/27/toronto_winter_blues_why_the_col
d_may_be_getting_you_down.html.
2013
Interviewed by Paul Verheij and Sebastiaan Cobelens for De Weerspiegel, official
magazine of the Dutch Institute for Meteorology and Climatology. May, 2014.
Available from: http://www.vwkweb.nl/index.php?page=28&menuid=414.
2013
Interviewed by Jan Oosthoek for “The IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report: A
Historical Perspective,” an Environmental History Resources podcast. Available
from: http://www.eh-resources.org/podcast/podcast.html#54.
2012
Interviewed by Sean Kheraj for a Nature’s Past roundtable about climate in
Canadian and global history, part of the “Histories of Canadian Environmental
Issues” podcast series. Available from: http://niche-canada.org/node/10484.
2012
Interviewed by Jan Oosthoek for “Explorations in Historical Climatology,” an
Environmental History Resources podcast. Available from: http://www.ehresources.org/podcast/podcast.html#46.
Conference Activity:
2016
“Organized panel, “‘A Climate History of the Causes and Conduct of War,” for
ASEH conference, Seattle, USA.
Paper, “Climate Change and the Eighty Years’ War, 1568-1648” accepted as part
of panel.
2016
“Climate Change and Conflict: Lessons from the Little Ice Age.” The Mershon
Center for International Security Studies, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA.
2015
“Climate Change and the Water History of the Dutch Republic, 1560-1720.”
International Water History conference, Delft, Netherlands.
Degroot 7
2015
“Organized panel, “‘Five Centuries of Climate Change in Canada,” for ESEH
conference, Versailles, France.
Paper, “Knowing the Canadian Arctic in the Little Ice Age, 1560-1630” accepted
as part of panel.
2015
“Capitalism and Climate Change: Policy Implications of the Little Ice Age.”
International Conference of Historical Geographers, London, UK (declined).
2015
“The Case for History: Reconstructing Northern Environments Using Historical
Documents.” ESSAS annual conference, Seattle, USA.
2015
Organized panel, “‘Five Centuries of Climate Change, Eh: Towards a Climate
History of Canada,” for ASEH conference, Washington, USA.
Paper, “Knowing the Canadian Arctic in the Little Ice Age, 1560-1630” accepted
as part of panel.
2014
“‘Such Freezing None Could Remember:’ Conceptions of Climate Change in the
Dutch Republic.” World Congress of Environmental History, Guimarães,
Portugal.
2014
“Paleoecology of Subarctic Seas.” Poster co-author. Integrated Marine
Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research Open Science Conference, Bergen,
Norway.
2014
“What Climate is History, and How?” The Climate is History NiCHE workshop,
London, Canada.
2014
“What’s a Historian Doing Here? Exploring the Importance of Environmental
History from the North Sea to the Subarctic.” ESSAS annual conference,
Copenhagen, Denmark.
2013
“‘With great cold, danger, and disease:’ The Quest for the Northeast Passage
During the Little Ice Age, 1594-1597.” Northern Nations, Northern Natures
workshop, Stockholm, Sweden.
2013
“Conflict and Climate in the North Sea, 1652 to 1674.” European Society for
Environmental History (ESEH) Conference, Munich, Germany.
2013
“Shifting Winds over the North Sea: How Anglo-Dutch Documentary Evidence
Enables the Reconstruction of Changes in Prevailing Wind during the Little Ice
Age, 1630-1700.” PAGES Fourth Open Science Meeting, Goa, India.
2013
“Confluences of Climate and Crisis: Water, Weather and Transportation in the
Dutch Republic, 1650-1750.” ASEH conference, Toronto, Canada.
Degroot 8
2012
Organized panel, “‘Roads which Move:’ Environmental Histories of Waterways
as Capitalist Resources,” for ASEH conference, Madison, USA.
Paper, “Evolving relationships between climate, environment and the biophysical
arteries of the Dutch Republic” presented as part of panel.
2012
Integrated Waterside (Riparia) Management: Knowledges and Practices.
Laurentian University, Sudbury (declined).
2012
“Historians and Global Warming: how the insights of environmental history and
historical climatology can improve projections of a warmer future.” Association
for Environmental Studies and Sciences conference, Santa Clara, California
(declined).
2012
“Conflict and Climate Change in the North Sea, 1562 to 1674.” New Frontiers
Graduate History Conference, York University, Toronto, Canada.
2011
Organized panel, “Preindustrial Warfare and Environments in the Atlantic
World,” for ASEH conference, Phoenix, USA.
Paper, “Dutch Naval Operations and Climatic Changes during the Maunder
Minimum” presented as part of panel.
2011
“Weather, Climate and Early Modern Dutch Maritime Life,” Royal
Meteorological Society meeting, Durham University, England (declined).
2011
“Climate, Weather, and the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the Seventeenth Century.”
Symposium of Environmental Historians in Southern Ontario, University of
Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
2010
“The Weather Gage: An Examination of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Ship Logs to
Understand Links between Weather and Trade, Climate, and Economy.” Graduate
History Symposium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
2009
“‘Go Raise Hell:’ Prejudice, Ignorance, and the Failures of American Support for
the Afghan Mujahedin.” New Frontiers Graduate History Conference, York
University, Toronto, Canada.
Campus Talks:
2016
“Climate Change and the Eighty Years’ War.” Invited speaker, Department of
History, Georgetown University, Washington, D. C.
2015
“Endangered Environmental Archives in the North Atlantic: Crisis and
Response,” workshop with Professor George Hambrecht. Organizer, Department
of History, Georgetown University, Washington, D. C.
Degroot 9
2015
“Environmental History Grants Workshop.” Organizer, Department of History,
Georgetown University, Washington, D. C.
2014
“Crisis and Opportunity in the Little Ice Age: From the Dutch Republic to the
Arctic Circle, 1560-1720.” Invited speaker, History Department Seminar Series,
University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
2014
“Navigating the Job Market.” Invited speaker, Department of History, York
University, Toronto, Canada.
2014
“Presenting at Academic Conferences.” Invited speaker, Faculty of Graduate
Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada.
2012
“Environmental History Roundtable.” Moderator and commentator for keynote
session at the New Frontiers Graduate History Conference, York University,
Toronto, Canada.
Teaching Experience:
Georgetown University:
Course Instructor. Designed and teaching course, “Anthropocene: The History of Earth Under
Human Dominion,” (spring 2016, one term).
Course Instructor. Designed and teaching course, “Warfare in Early Modern Europe,” (spring
2016, one term).
Course Instructor. Designed and teaching course, “A Global History of Climate Change,” (fall
2015, one term).
York University:
Course Instructor. Designed and taught online course, “Europe and the Natural World Until
1800,” (summer 2015, one term).
Course Instructor. Designed and taught course, “Warfare in Early Modern Europe,” (2013-2014,
two terms).
Teaching Assistant. “Medieval and Early Modern Europe,” (2012-2013, two terms).
Teaching Assistant. “Medieval and Early Modern Europe,” (2011-2012, two terms).
McMaster University:
Teaching Assistant. “Europe from the French Revolution to the End of the Second World War,”
(2008, one term).
Degroot 10
Teaching Assistant. “The Society of Greece and Rome,” (2007, one term).
Service to Profession:
2015-
Founder and Host, Climate History Podcast
(HistoricalClimatology.com/Interviews)
Founded and now host the only podcast dedicated to the history of climate
change. Solicit, edit, and publish podcasts on iTunes and Soundcloud.
2014-
Steering Committee Member. War and Environment Network
(EnvironmentalLegaciesOfWar.com).
Contribute to the development of online resources for the world’s first network
devoted to the environmental history of war. The network is loosely based on the
Climate History Network I co-founded.
2014-
Contributor. Paleoecology of Subarctic Seas Working Group, ESSAS. Funded by
NSF.
This project synthesizes the methodologies and findings of interdisciplinary
scholars from universities and museums in the United States, Canada, Denmark,
Japan, and Russia. I provide the perspective of environmental history for a
manuscript that will reconstruct 20,000 years of human interactions with the
environment of the Atlantic and Pacific Subarctic.
2011-
Contributing Editor. Active History (ActiveHistory.ca).
Regularly submit articles linking issues in environmental history, historical
climatology, and early modern history to present debates about global warming.
2010-
Founder and Administrator. HistoricalClimatology.com
(HistoricalClimatology.com).
Developed, advertised, and now manage an online resource that links the
scholarship of environmental history and historical climatology to modern issues
in global warming. Recruited and lead a volunteer team of PhD candidates who,
as of 2014, are partially responsible for updating different aspects of the website.
HistoricalClimatology.com receives more than 100,000 unique hits annually. It
was featured as a link in a BBC News article on 28 February 2012, and its articles
have been assigned in university courses devoted to both history and earth
sciences. The site was recently included in an influential list of the top online
resources on climate change.
2010-
Co-founder and Co-administrator. Climate History Network (ClimateHistory.net).
Degroot 11
Created and now manage website and social media presence; update content using
member feedback; co-chair annual Climate History Breakfasts at American
Society for Environmental History conferences, manage volunteer team, form
connections with other environmental history networks, build member list for the
world’s first historical climatology/climate history network. Applied for and
received Georgetown Infrastructure Award ($6,500) and GEI Impact Program
Award ($13,000) to host climate history conferences at Georgetown, and expand
network’s online presence. The network is part of the International Consortium of
Environmental History Organizations, and ClimateHistoryNetwork.com is
annually accessed by nearly 20,000 viewers.
Editing/Review Service:
2014
Peer-Reviewer. NiCHE/Geospatial Historian.
Review publications in a series devoted to teaching Geographical Information
Systems techniques to interdisciplinary scholars.
2012
Editor. Left History.
Managed journal finances; oversaw peer review process; acquired, approved, and
edited manuscripts; readied issues for publication and distributed finished journals
to subscribers.
2011
Book Prospectus Reviewer. Yale University Press.
Evaluated originality, historiographical context, feasibility, and potential
audience.
2008-10
Book Review Editorial Assistant. Isis, Journal for the History of Science Society.
Managed correspondence with book reviewers; updated Microsoft Access
database; edited book reviews; instructed new employees; attended bi-weekly
meetings as member of the editorial team.
Departmental Service:
2012-13
Search Committee Graduate Student Representative. Department of History, York
University.
Full member of a department of history search committee responsible for review
and discussion of applications, interviewing of applicants, and hiring of a new
assistant professor of early modern history.
2010-11
Treasurer. York University Graduate History Students Association.
Degroot 12
Developed annual budget; oversaw all financial transactions for Canada’s largest
Graduate History Students Association and the associated New Frontiers
conference; attended bi-weekly meetings of the Graduate History Students’
Association as a voting member of the executive.
2009-10
Co-Chair. Fourteenth Annual New Frontiers Graduate History Conference, York
University.
Organized Canada’s largest graduate history conference; advertised conference to
over 50 Canadian and American universities; evaluated more than 120 conference
paper proposals; selected three distinguished guest speakers; recruited and
coordinated a 20-member volunteer team; organized and chaired workshops for
panel moderators and first-time presenters; created program; presided over
conference and evening dinners for three days.
Government Service:
2014
Consultant, Canada Post.
Completed three research projects that informed design of new stamp series on
Canadian weather and climate, First Nations culture, and architectural
achievements. Provided scientific research, historical context, relevant images,
product ideas, and references. Forwarded additional research projects to qualified
colleagues.
Languages:
English: Reading (Native), Speaking (Native), Writing (Native).
Dutch: Reading (Native), Speaking (Native), Writing (Native).
French: Reading (With Dictionary).
German: Reading (With Dictionary).
Research Interests:
Climate history and historical climatology.
Environmental history of outer space.
Interdisciplinary models and methods.
Medieval and early modern world history.
Public history through new media.
Professional Affiliations:
Active History.
American Society for Environmental History.
Climate History Network.
Degroot 13
History of Meteorology.
International Society for Historical Climatology and Climate History.
Network in Canadian History and Environment.
Past Global Changes.
War and Environment Network.