Aaron van Neste

  • Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies

Areas of Study

Education

  • PhD, history of science, Harvard University, 2023
  • MS, Earth systems, Stanford University, 2015
  • BA, history, Stanford University, 2013

Biography

Aaron van Neste is an assistant professor of environmental studies, researching and teaching in the fields of environmental history, history of science, environmental humanities and sustainability. Their current book project narrates the fishy origins of fisheries science and critically examines the role of data, lack of data, and theoretical assumptions about marine ecology in the making of natural resource management tools.

van Neste, Aaron. (2023) “Walmart’s Outsized Catch.” CivilEats. https://civileats.com/2023/11/21/op-ed-walmarts-outsized-catch/
*James Beard Journalism Award Nominee 2024, Investigative Reporting

van Neste, Aaron (2024) “Walmart’s Ocean: Certifications, Catch Shares, and the Ripple Effects of Corporate Governance on Marine Environments” in Big Box USA: The Environmental Impact of America’s Biggest Retail Stores. Eds. Bartow Elmore, Rachel Gross and Sherri Sheu. Colorado University Press.

van Neste, Aaron (2022) “Alien Oceans as Climate Salvation: Finding Hope in Kinship with the Deep Blue Unknown” in Nonhuman Animals, Climate Crisis and the Role of Literature. Eds. Sune Borkfelt and Mathias Stephan. Palmgrave Macmillan.

van Neste, Aaron (2018) "Practising taxonomy: Joel Asaph Allen and species-making." Archives of natural history 45, no. 2: 197-212.
*William T. Stearn Essay Prize, 2017

Fall 2024

Environment and Society — ENVS 101

Environmental History of Oceans and Great Lakes — ENVS 326

Spring 2025

Global Environmental History — ENVS 206

“Trust the Science”? Knowledge and Controversy in Environmental Science and Policy — ENVS 306

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