I just republished my short essay "In the Scale of a Human Being" from 2020, on how the "Anthropocene" is out of scale for the "anthropos" after which it is named. Originally published by the Canadian Centre for Architecture.
palmbl.ad/2026/04/09/i...
Flatlay featuring said dissertation with a few other books
Today marks exactly 2 years since I submitted my PhD dissertation. Since it passed, it is now open access as required for public-funded research in France. Feel free to DL, send, cite, enjoy bits and pieces of almost 10 years of thinking about smell!
Link:
research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publicati...
Book cover with a green gradient background for "The Organism–Environment Pairing: A Historical and Philosophical Reappraisal" by Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda (MIT Press, 2026). The book series label “The Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology” appears at the top. The title is set in large, bold lettering using three colors: white (“The” and “Pairing”), warm yellow (“Organism–”), and bright green (“Environment”). The subtitle appears below in smaller white text, and the author’s name is printed at the bottom. In the lower right, a monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) rests on clusters of pink milkweed flowers. Behind it, a large pale-green butterfly silhouette fills the background; its outline follows the shape of a red lacewing butterfly (Cethosia biblis). The layered butterflies visually echo the book’s central idea of an organism–environment pairing.
What a joy to finally share the cover of The Organism–Environment Pairing (@mitpress.bsky.social)! The 📗 will be out on May 12 📆! I look forward to the conversations it sparks among scientists, philosophers & historians! mitpress.mit.edu/978026205282... #evosky #histsci #philsci #philsky #booksky 🌱🐋
What is an environment, really? I reflect upon this in my latest essay, in which I write about my own path toward #EnvHist and the #EnvHum. This is also a commentary on Sverker Sörlin's great piece in the latest Global Environment. Turns out we have had similar but different environments!
Thanks, Jessica!
This month I feature @harrissolomon.bsky.social, @jacobinoire.bsky.social, @publicbooks.bsky.social, @motherjones.com, @palmblad.bsky.social, @carsoncenter.bsky.social, @dagomardegroot.bsky.social, @sciencepolitics.bsky.social, @aptninvestigates.bsky.social, and more!
#envhist
Our editor-in-chief, @jessicamdewitt.bsky.social, is back with her picks for environmental history worth reading (and watching) from February!
niche-canada.org/2026/03/19/e...
#envhist
I now have a website: palmbl.ad. This is where I will gather publications, information, and occasional reflections.
The 🌿Environmental Humanities🌊 section of Cogent Arts & Humanities is now open for submissions with @tstorey.bsky.social as Senior Editor 🎉 Read more about this vital new #openaccess section & how to submit here: www.tandfonline.com/journals/oaa... @tandfresearch.bsky.social #envhum #envhist
Book cover based on stylised painted art of someone digging in a large pile of soil with a shovel.
We're delighted to announce publication of 'Grasping Soil: A Syllabus and Essays for The Environmental Humanities' (E. Brownell, ed.) – exploring #soil as a vessel of human #history and point of view for inquiry. Available print or #openaccess here: www.whpress.co.uk/publications... #envhum #envhist
About enforcing age restrictions for social media: many point out that this enables tech companies to collect more data on us, but at the same time, social media indeed are harmful to users (of all ages). Rather than forcing them to add age verification, then, we should regulate their algorithms.
New entry in our dictionary: "Environmental History" by Jonatan Palmblad, Rachel Carson Center. Click the link below to learn more about how historians understand human–environment interaction in the past.
www.speak4nature.eu/dictionary/e...
#envhist
@palmblad.bsky.social @carsoncenter.bsky.social
Nietzsche makes more sense if read as intrinsically hyberbolic and exaggerating, as "edgy". He provokes and tries to be "untimely," much to avoid popularity: "he who is hated by the people, as the wolf by the dogs—is the free spirit, the enemy of fetters, the non-adorer, the dweller in the woods."
Today, we would like to highlight “The Inhuman Condition: Rethinking #Anthropocentrism” by environmental humanist @palmblad.bsky.social.
In an increasingly inhumane world, this article argues that socioecological #justice can only be achieved by embracing human nature.
Using William Morris' terms, the AI industry undoes "useful work" that people enjoy, whether for utility or creativity, instead of the "useless toil" that automation was supposed to substitute. Facing challenges & honing skills makes us human; bypassing this with commercial tech makes us consumers.
New page! Our "Environmental History Around the World" section is expanding, and we have now added a page with podcasts, interviews, lectures, and talks. This is just the beginning; Help us expand it by suggesting other series on environmental history! www.iceho.org/talk-series
#EnvHist
🎓🎉 I'm happy and proud (and ofc relieved) that I successfully defended my PhD thesis at the Rachel Carson Center (@carsoncenter.bsky.social) at the end of last week!
#envhist #envhum #organicfarming
New #Speak4Nature article from the Rachel Carson Center: "The Inhuman Condition: Rethinking Anthropocentrism" by Jonatan Palmblad.
@palmblad.bsky.social @carsoncenter.bsky.social #envhum #envjust
Poster showing a truck loaded with old clothes in India.
We are thrilled to announce that the ninth installment of our open-access online publication 𝘚𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 is now live. It offers a dialogue on human nature and the origins of environmental degradation, taking inspiration from tradition and Indigenous practices.
springs-rcc.org
#envhum #envhist
New #EnvHum publication: "The Inhuman Condition: Rethinking Anthropocentrism." Is humanity really to blame for the ecological crisis? Or are both humans and nonhumans victims of system that is bot inhuman and inhumane? I suggest the latter, and that an ecological anthropocentrism is needed.
We just republished Sverker Sörlin's new essay from Global Environment, "Staying open – shaping environmental
history in Sweden." Download it on our Environment & Society Portal. This was published in collaboration with ICEHO (@iceho.bsky.social)
@whitehorsepress.bsky.social
#EnvHist
“Researchers from Johns Hopkins, Georgetown and Yale universities recently found that 60 FDA-authorized medical devices using AI were linked to 182 product recalls, according to a research letter published in the JAMA Health Forum in August.”
Today at 5pm CET! "Ecocide Speaker Series: Environmental History and Geopolitics, Palestine/Israel"
zoom.us/j/96872519426
#EnvHist #EnvHum #EnvJust #Ecocide
How is environmental history doing in Asia? It's thriving! Read Mu Cao's beautiful account of the Asian Association for Environmental History (AAEH) conference in Japan last year.
AAEH is a biennial conference, so keep an eye out for the next one in 2027!
#envhist #envhum #history
I like this passage too: "We’re in the world, not against it. It doesn’t work to try to stand outside things and run them. . . . It just doesn’t work, it goes against life. There is a way but you have to follow it. The world is, no matter how we think it ought to be. . . . You have to let it be.
Our early-career network is growing! Join us if you are interested in #EnvHist in or about Europe. You will then be added to our listserv and receive updates on events and opportunities, and you will also be able to contribute to the network. Send us a DM with your email to be added.
Join the ESEH! As a member, you will contribute to environmental history in Europe, including our next conference in Salzburg, 2027.
New #Speak4Nature essay by 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐮𝐜𝐡, director of the Rachel Carson Center. Originally published in 2024, this Spanish-language article tells the story of Rachel Carson's ground-breaking 1962 book. Read it here for free: www.fuhem.es/wp-content/u...
#EnvHist #EnvHum #EnvJust #RachelCarson