Ph.D. University of Kansas
B.A. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Joshua Nygren is a historian interested in the political economy of environmental
protection. His research focuses on the relationships between government, industry,
and individuals within twentieth-century US conservation efforts. His first book,
The State of Conservation: Rural America and the Conservation-Industrial Complex since
1920, explores soil and water conservation and how it reshaped the landscapes and
communities of rural America. His next project focuses on the political economy of
papermaking and forest conservation in the twentieth-century Great Lakes region.
At UCM Professor Nygren has taught courses on various topics, including the introductory
survey in US history since 1877, historical methods, global and US environmental history,
the US West, and post-World War II history. One of his greatest satisfactions in teaching
is guiding student research. He lives in Kansas City with his spouse and two children
and roots for the Green Bay Packers.