Thread by @JessicaMDeWitt

Got up at 3:50 am for our #STREAMS2021 roundtable and then had MAJOR technical problems and couldn’t present my statement. So I’m going to tweet it. 🤷🏼‍♀️ #envhum

I describe myself as an environmental historian, editor, and digital communications strategist.

I received my BA in history from Bethany College (WV) and my MA in history from the University of Rochester. #STREAMS2021 #envhum

I moved to Canada for my doctoral program. I earned my PhD in History from @usaskhist in 2019. My dissertation was a comparative history of provincial parks in Canada and state parks in the United States from 1890-1890. #STREAMS2021 #envhum

I have served as social media editor for @NiCHE_Canada for 7+ years & am now also co-editor-in-chief & an executive member. In these positions (and others, including my two-year term as @ASEHGradCaucus media officer) I have made a concerted effort to build community. #STREAMS2021

The first goal of my work at @NiCHE_Canada is to publicize the content of our website. The 2nd is to support the work of NiCHE members. #STREAMS2022 #envhum

My third goal at @NiCHE_Canada is to support all #envhist & #envhum scholarship. Using a strategy of inclusivity & support, I have increased the overall reach of environmental scholarship both inside and outside the academy. #STREAMS2021

As an environmental historian, I am admittedly (or at least feel that I am) a bit of an interloper in the #envhum. It is a result of my online community building that I’ve found myself enmeshed in the #envhum community. #STREAMS2021

When I first started at NiCHE in 2014, I noticed that #envhist & #envhum scholars were having similar conversations, but they were not talking to each other. I have made a concerted effort to change this disconnect and have, in my opinion, been markedly successful. #STREAMS2021

For example, in the last couple years the number of #envhum posts on @NiCHE_Canada have increased exponentially.

#STREAMS2021

Series like our #EnvHist of the Future, edited by @awatson8381: niche-canada.org/tag/EnvHistFut…

And my Succession: Queering the Environment series have been markedly interdisciplinary: niche-canada.org/tag/queerenvhi…

#envhum #STREAMS2021

As an environmental historian, I also tend to lean towards a big tent definition of #envhum. The interdisciplinarity of #envhist & #envhum are their strengths, particularly on the non-academic job market. #STREAMS2021

While academic departments & associations may nitpick disciplinary details, these details make little difference to the average employer outside the ivory tower. Skills transcend academic disciplinary categories. #envhum #STREAMS2021

It is the truth that most people outside academia will not comprehend nor care to understand the difference between #envhist, #envhum, #histheog #envanthro, etc. They care that you can research, project manage, communicate widely, etc. ... #STREAMS2021

The disconnect between the strict disciplinary categories that early career researchers are encouraged to maintain on the academic job market and the realities that little of this matters on the non-ac job market is a major problem that #envhum #envhist needs to grapple with.

It needs to be grappled with because strict discipline boundaries can block early career scholars from being able to develop skills that non-ac value. Academic performativity is a time and energy-suck. #envhum #STREAMS2021

Which gets to why I’m an outlier on this panel. I have already left academia. And I didn’t apply to one PostDoc or TT job before doing so. This shocked a lot of people because on paper I had done everything ‘right’ to stay in academia. #envhum #STREAMS2021

After a taking a year off after my PhD, both recuperating and waiting for my Canadian permanent residency application to go through, I realized that being a professor was no longer my dream job, nor did it represent the potential security it once did. #STREAMS2021 #envhum

I wanted to permanently immigrate to Canada. I no longer wanted to perform for the approval of others, ignore academic toxicity, or keep up with the academic grind while managing chronic illnesses. #envhum #STREAMS2021

I left without a clear plan and was halfheartedly on the non-academic job market for a bit. Six months after my decision to leave academia, however, I decided to have a go at working for myself as a digital and historical researcher and consultant and as an editor. #STREAMS2021

This step was terrifying, particularly for someone w/ some poor trauma, but so far, I have been successful. I am employed full-time on several contracts ranging from scholarly journal communications to Indigenous genealogy to digital conference consultation. #STREAMS2021 #envhum

My success outside (or adjacent to) academia is due almost entirely to my self-driven skill development and network building. I taught myself how to build websites. I taught myself social media strategy. I made the opportunities for myself. #envhum #STREAMS2021

With the exception of the Folklore Fellowship, which gave me editing experience, I did all of this in spite of my department asking me to stop all of my external activities because it took me away from focusing only on my dissertation. #STREAMS2021 #envhum

I understand that, at least in North America, departments are under pressure to get students done as quickly as possible. Funding is limited. Department audits can be nasty.
#STREAMS2022 #envhum

BUT a hyper-focus on only dissertation research and underpaid teaching opportunities during a PhD program, as well as speed, makes it much more difficult for #envhum #envhist who choose or are forced into non-ac jobs. #STREAMS2021

This, of course, is tied to the neoliberalism of the university and is a whole other massive conversation. #STREAMS2021 #envhum

I will also note that during my PhD, I did most of my extracurriculars for free. Leaving academia has meant learning how to ask for compensation for my skills and being shocked how readily people are willing to compensate me fairly. #STREAMS2021 #envhum

For example, as ASEH grad caucus media officer (a position created to acknowledge my work) I singlehandedly organized and managed our first ever Twitter conference #ASEH2018Tweets. This conference got 50,000+ impressions daily. #envhum #STREAMS2021

I did this with no support from ASEH, financial or otherwise.

Now I am paid $35-40+ an hour to do this work as a hired consultant and organizer.

#envhum #STREAMS2021

I’m not sure how to wrap this up! Particularly now that my statement is standing alone and not in conversation with the others. But I hope this thread gave some insight into my career path and relationship to #envhum. #STREAMS

Questions and convos welcome!

@threadreaderapp unroll please.