Abstract: Humans see distinctions between artifacts, which are constructed by human hands with human ingenuity, and nature, which we tend to think of as somehow not made by humans even if we acknowledge that little nature is left untouched by humans. An artifact at its core is related to the …
In Oil Culture, ed. D. Worden and R. Barrett, 267-288. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2014. To examine the integration of oil and ocean, this essay analyzes depictions of offshore ecosystems in American aquarium displays owned by a variety of organizations, ranging from commercial restaurant chains to nonprofit environmentally focused …
Nothing seems more unnatural than a manmade island shaped like a palm tree, an act of artifice, of design, on a massive scale. Yet when the Sheikh of Dubai decided to invest in such a scheme, naturalness was foremost in his thoughts. As if the technological challenges of creating the …
Marine Ecology Progress Series 516 (2014): 275-280. Authors: Paulina Bergmark and Dolly Jørgensen ABSTRACT: Deep-water coral reefs are classified as vulnerable marine ecosystems, with trawling identified as the primary cause of reef destruction. Lophelia pertusa is the main reef-building species in deep-water coral reefs. In addition to occurring on natural hard …
I had the privilege to give a lecture on November 4, 2014, as part of the 2014 Sagan National Colloquium Water in World at Ohio Wesleyan University (USA). The video of the lecture titled “Oasis in a Watery Desert” is available online.
In New Natures: Joining Environmental History with Science and Technology Studies, ed. Dolly Jørgensen, Finn Arne Jørgensen & Sara Pritchard (Pittsburgh: Univ of Pittsburgh Press, 2013), 51-68. Classic environmental histories of the environmentalist movement tell stories of pro-environmentalists fighting against anti-environmentalist interests who typically opt for economic gain over environmental preservation. …
Journal of American Studies 46 (2012): 461–480. This article analyzes aquarium displays depicting the ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico to see the ways in which offshore oil structures have been naturalized. It focuses on aquariums in Texas and Louisiana that use oil structures as part of their public displays of …
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 10 (2012): 178–179. This peer-reviewed letter makes a case for integrating policy history into scientific recommendations for rigs-to-reefs programs by examining the failed attempt to make the Odin platform into Norway’s first rig-to-reef project. Available online (open access)
Ocean and Coastal Management 58 (2012): 57-61. This article focuses on how the debate over the deepwater disposal of offshore oil and gas installations has been central to shaping North Sea artificial reef policy. Through a close empirical historical study, this article reconstructs how Greenpeace’s protest of the deepwater disposal of …
History and Technology 25 (December 2009): 343-364. This article explores how in the years after 1980 a spectrum of historical actors came to see petroleum platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as a necessary part of the Gulf ecosystem and how such views affected platform removal policies. Through a discourse analysis …
