Collection Ecologies

@collecol.bsky.social

historical ecology and environmental history • humanities approaches to collections & collecting #collections #museums #histsci #histstm #histknow #envhum #envhist

In my article, I grapple with the idea of socio-environmental responsibility of nathist museums, and how assuming this responbility is far from obvious once you look at their history. It is also a pledge for an environmental history of nathist museums - it has a lot of @collecol.bsky.social in it!

picture of abstract in French and English : 
Les musées d'histoire naturelle dans l'anthropocène: collecter et exposer la nature à l'heure de la crise environnementale
La crise environnementale contemporaine touche les musées d'histoire naturelle de manière particulière: de nombreuses prises de position témoignent d'un sentiment d'urgence à trouver une place dans la lutte contre le changement climatique et à répondre aux grands enjeux posés par l'anthropocène. Or, les musées d'histoire naturelle sont eux-mêmes le résultat de pratiques de collecte de la nature, qui depuis au moins le xville siècle jusqu'au xx* siècle, se sont fondées sur l'exploitation des rapports de pouvoir, notamment coloniaux, et d'une logique d'accumulation des ressources naturelles.
Pourtant, différentes initiatives (fin xXe siècle - début xxI siècle) en faveur de la biodiversité démontrent les efforts entrepris par les musées d'histoire naturelle pour réparer la nature. Cet article invite ainsi à réfléchir sur la façon dont on peut penser historiquement la responsabilité socio-environnementale de ces musées.

English : Natural History Museums in the
Anthropocene: Collecting and Exhibiting
Nature in the Age of Environmental
Crisis
The environmental crisis has affected natura history museums in particular : numerous statements or scientific events reflect a sense of urgency to play a role in the fight against climate change and to actively respond to the major challenges of a natural world in the age of the Anthropocene. However, natural history museums themselves result from practices of collecting nature based on the exploitation of power relations, especially colonial, and a logic of extraction and accumulation of natural resources from the 18th century at least to the 20th century. This article also draws on various initiatives conducted by natural history museums from the late 20th to the early 21" century to curb the collapse of biodiversity and the many undertakings to attempt to repair a broken nature. In doing so, this article stands as an invitation think historically about the socio-environmental responsibility of these museums.

and bio mentionining Collection Ecologies : DÉBORAH DUBALD est historienne des cultures matérielles de la nature, des sciences et de la santé à l'époque contemporaine. Sa thèse (2019) portait sur l'histoire des musées d'histoire naturelle en France au XIX siècle. Actuellement, son travail se situe à l'intersection de l'histoire du patrimoine scientifique et naturel, du travail et des pratiques des sciences naturelles et médicales, et de l'histoire du genre. Elle est membre du collectif «Collection Ecologies » qui interroge les relations entre histoire des collections, cultures matérielles des sciences et histoire environnementale.

What an amazing session - perfect in all possible ways to close HSS2026 on a flowery panel blooming with inspired thoughts 🌷🌿🌵 Thank you to the Collection Ecologies crew & friends @envhist @envhum

Collection Ecologies@collecol.bsky.social · 3w ago

We had a fantastic panel in the last slot of the last day of #HSS-ESHS #HSS2026 called "Pedagogies of Things in the Natural History Humanities" with @arnoldke.bsky.social, @annalsvensson.bsky.social & Kelly Whitmer. If you were there, we'd love to hear your thoughts! 🌿 #envhist #envhum

Discussing some of the features of an old book with a pressed plant inside.

We had such an amazing turnout for this & great engagement from the audience about some historical questions, but also some very practical concerns about what it means to teach with material objects in a world of digitization, AI, declining attention span, & much more. #hss-eshs #envhist #envhum

Collection Ecologies@collecol.bsky.social · 3w ago

We had a fantastic panel in the last slot of the last day of #HSS-ESHS #HSS2026 called "Pedagogies of Things in the Natural History Humanities" with @arnoldke.bsky.social, @annalsvensson.bsky.social & Kelly Whitmer. If you were there, we'd love to hear your thoughts! 🌿 #envhist #envhum

Discussing some of the features of an old book with a pressed plant inside.

Not only that, but a large contingent of the wider @collecol.bsky.social network also came! So many people there working on collections, natural history, museums, environmental history, etc. 🌿🪲 What a great way to kick off the conference! #hss2026 #eshs-hss

Elaine Ayers@eayers0.bsky.social · 3w ago

Big thank you to the many, many #ESHS-HSS people who came to @arnoldke.bsky.social and my pub night last night! Incredibly having friends from so many walks of life in one place. Let's do it again tonight - Yale drinks, CALM drinks, and of course the cèildh.

I was very lucky to be part of this amazing book. I've co-authored a piece on natural history collections and climate change with Martha Fleming (Natural History Museum of Denmark) as part of @collecol.bsky.social. Looking forward to finally seeing it in print! ✨🌿 #nathist #envhist #collections

Emily Pawley@emilypawley.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Friends, @alixhui.bsky.social and I and 70+ historians have been working on this gigantic project for three years and it finally feels like it's going to be real.

Page proof screenshot from MIT Press "A Historian's Handbook for Saving the World: Responding to the Global Climate Emergency"

I will actually miss this, unfortunately, because I’m giving a workshop at the @icomdeutschland.bsky.social conference in Hamburg at the same time but y‘all should definitely not miss Thomas‘s presentation about his fabulous project. #HistNatHist #Collections #EnvHist

Collection Ecologies@collecol.bsky.social · 8mo ago

🚨 Don't miss the next @collecol.bsky.social CHSTM seminar on Thursday 4 December at 11am EST/4pm GMT! ✨ This month, we'll hear from Thomas Biskup (University of Hull/Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel) #envhist #histsci #histstm #envhums #collections #plants /1

CollEcologies is back this week with another great discussion on how THINGS are also NATURE and what is all this about collecting and preserving, and where is "knowledge"?

Collection Ecologies@collecol.bsky.social · 8mo ago

🚨 Don't miss the next @collecol.bsky.social CHSTM seminar on Thursday 4 December at 11am EST/4pm GMT! ✨ This month, we'll hear from Thomas Biskup (University of Hull/Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel) #envhist #histsci #histstm #envhums #collections #plants /1

Happy Monday! 🌵 We're glad to say that this rescheduled Reading Club session is happening this week! Join us on 6 November to discuss Appadurai's article, a fantastically rich piece to raise questions connecting museums & collections, coloniality & the global/planetary, & the age of Anthropocene ✨

Collection Ecologies@collecol.bsky.social · 10mo ago

@collecol.bsky.social is back! 🪲 We've put together a great seminar series - we hope you'll come along! On 2 Oct 11am EDT/4pm GMT we're doing a reading club - Appadurai's "The Museum, the Colony, and the Planet: Territories of the Imperial Imagination". All info ⬇️ www.chstm.org/group/collec...

Happy Monday! 🌵 We're glad to say that this rescheduled Reading Club session is happening this week! Join us on 6 November to discuss Appadurai's article, a fantastically rich piece to raise questions connecting museums & collections, coloniality & the global/planetary, & the age of Anthropocene ✨

Collection Ecologies@collecol.bsky.social · 10mo ago

@collecol.bsky.social is back! 🪲 We've put together a great seminar series - we hope you'll come along! On 2 Oct 11am EDT/4pm GMT we're doing a reading club - Appadurai's "The Museum, the Colony, and the Planet: Territories of the Imperial Imagination". All info ⬇️ www.chstm.org/group/collec...

🚨🚨 This is a quick notice to let you all know that we have had to cancel this session! But, we have moved it to 6 November! We hope you'll join us then! ✨🪴

Collection Ecologies@collecol.bsky.social · 10mo ago

@collecol.bsky.social is back! 🪲 We've put together a great seminar series - we hope you'll come along! On 2 Oct 11am EDT/4pm GMT we're doing a reading club - Appadurai's "The Museum, the Colony, and the Planet: Territories of the Imperial Imagination". All info ⬇️ www.chstm.org/group/collec...

Join us for another semester of @collecol.bsky.social fun online. #HistNatHist #HistSTM #collections #museums #EnvHist #EnvHum

Collection Ecologies@collecol.bsky.social · 10mo ago

@collecol.bsky.social is back! 🪲 We've put together a great seminar series - we hope you'll come along! On 2 Oct 11am EDT/4pm GMT we're doing a reading club - Appadurai's "The Museum, the Colony, and the Planet: Territories of the Imperial Imagination". All info ⬇️ www.chstm.org/group/collec...