This strategic plan was developed by ASEH leadership, with the assistance of working group members made up of individuals representing ASEH’s Council and committees. We also solicited comments and feedback from the membership at several stages.This strategic plan synthesizes the reports of the four working groups to set forth targeted and manageable goals to help guide the society’s activities between 2027 and 2032.

Strategic Priorities

● Support a robust, diverse, and inclusive membership

● Enhance existing programming

● Improve communication with members and the public

● Define our role in public advocacy

● Strengthen financial management

American Society for Environmental History: Strategic Plan, October 2026

The American Society for Environmental History was founded in 1977. Its mission is to advance understanding of human interactions with the natural world by promoting historical research and teaching, and fostering dialogue about human use of the earth among humanists, social and environmental scientists, and the public.

As ASEH enters into its 50th anniversary year, the field of environmental history is expanding, driven by a growing community of scholars asking new questions, drawing on a wider array of disciplines, and representing a more diverse set of experiences. This growth creates opportunities and promises to make the work of environmental historians more relevant and consequential for both the scholarly community and the public. Broader structural changes to the landscape of higher education, however, are making it more difficult for existing and potential members of ASEH, in the United States and abroad, to take part fully in ASEH activities.

Looking ahead, ASEH and its allied fields face a broad set of challenges that extend beyond the scope of the organization, though each has bearing on our mission and activities:

● The role of higher education and scholarly research in the United States, in particular, is changing rapidly as policies jeopardize academic freedom, reduce government support for research, and change immigration and related policies in ways that limit opportunities for study and exchange for scholars based in the US and abroad.

● Long-term employment opportunities for those studying and teaching in higher education are narrowing as non-tenure track, short-term, and contingent employment opportunities and non-academic careers become more common and as hiring in humanities disciplines stagnates.

● The environmental crisis is deepening, accelerated by the quickening pace of global climate change and exacerbated by new developments such as the rise of generative artificial intelligence.

As such, this strategic plan was developed by ASEH leadership, with the assistance of working group members made up of individuals representing ASEH’s Council and committees. We also solicited comments and feedback from the membership at several stages.This strategic plan synthesizes the reports of the four working groups to set forth targeted and manageable goals to help guide the society’s activities between 2027 and 2032.

Strategic Priorities

● Support a robust, diverse, and inclusive membership

● Enhance existing programming

● Improve communication with members and the public

● Define our role in public advocacy

● Strengthen financial management

Goals and Plans

Goal 1. Support a robust, diverse, and inclusive membership. We will maintain a robust membership by continuing to welcome and support a diverse community of scholars and a range of scholarly approaches advancing the field of environmental history. We will do this by:

Supporting the ongoing work of the Early Career Caucus, the Committee on Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity, Queer@ASEH, the Women’s Environmental History Network, and Special Interest Groups as well as meeting the emerging needs of members by supporting the creation of new SIGs and affinity groups.

Continuing to tier both membership rates and conference registration rates to make ASEH activities accessible to a greater diversity of participants.

Ensuring that committee appointments and nominations for elected positions better reflect the diversity of ASEH members with respect to career status, career path, area of study, and identity.

Adopting standard guidelines regarding diversity and inclusion for the annual conference and other programming.

Improving our membership survey to better track our members’ increasingly varied career paths and other activities. This information will help ASEH adapt to better meet the changing needs of its membership.

Strengthening our mentoring program to ensure that our early career members feel welcome and connected throughout the year.

Goal 2. Enhance existing programming and activities. We will continue with an in-person annual conference while strengthening ASEH’s commitment to a well-developed and organized year-round schedule of online programming. We will do this by:

Reaffirming our commitment to an in-person annual conference through 2032, while working to contain costs, to rotate locations, and ensure accessibility.

We make this commitment mindful that the conference is of enormous value to participating members and a significant financial commitment, which can preclude participation for some. We will continue to tier registration rates, offer travel grants, and seek to manage conference costs (which continue to grow) to make the conference as accessible as possible.

We make this commitment with the conviction that, despite the environmental costs, in-person conferences offer opportunities for scholarly engagement and community building that remain of primary importance to our members.

Consolidating online scholarly programming (ASEH Presents) under an online program committee that is chaired by the vice president and placing oversight of online community building programming (ASEH Connects) under the Executive Director. We will discontinue the EH Week initiative while making public outreach a greater priority for other online programming, such as ASEH Presents and Connects.

Undertaking a comprehensive study of the annual conference’s format and costs in 2030; considering alternative schedules, venues (including university conference centers), and format (including hybrid options); and implementing any changes to format during the next strategic planning period.

Strengthening Germinate (ASEH’s online publication) to improve its reach and ensure its sustainability; continuing to support the flagship Environmental History journal in partnership with the Forest History Society,

Collaborating with peer organizations to share information about programming, outreach, and ongoing initiatives that impact education and research.

Goal 3. Improve communication with members and the public. We will implement a refined communication strategy that provides consistent and useful information to our members and the wider community. We will build this strategy with the understanding that good communication is key to the health of the organization. We will do this by :

Improving the user experience on our website with frequent updates to our webpages.

Developing an email communication strategy.

Deprioritizing our social media presence.

Drawing attention to member activities via the website, ASEH News, and Germinate.

Goal 4. Define our role in public advocacy. ASEH does not have the staffing or resources to position itself as a leading advocacy organization, even within the constraints of our non-profit status. We will thus better define and right-size ASEH’s commitment to advocacy by:

Revising the organization’s advocacy policy, which was adopted in 2007 and last updated in 2013.

Continuing to support our larger peer organizations that have the capacity to focus on policy issues important to higher education and the historical profession.

Doing more to support and publicize the significant public-facing work of our members, including highlighting their advocacy work and encouraging related programming that helps our members draw on their expertise to contribute to public discussion.

Goal 5. Strengthen financial management. While our financial position is currently sound, ASEH has taken on new financial commitments in recent years and faces growing conference costs; we recognize there are challenges on the horizon that may make balancing the budget difficult. We will thus need to steward ASEH’s resources responsibly, balancing the needs of the present with the uncertainties of the future. We will do this by:

Developing an investment policy that reflects the organization’s mission and values.

Reevaluating ASEH’s current investment portfolio and rebalancing the portfolio to ensure a higher return consistent with a to-be-developed investment policy.

Investigating whether to engage a professional to manage ASEH’s investments consistent with the above goals.

Developing a spending plan to sustainably draw on ASEH’s resources to support a balanced operating budget and current programming.

Increasing our fundraising capacity through strategies such as planned giving and day-of giving campaigns and remaining alert to grant opportunities.

Making annual updates to our Candid Seal of Transparency that provide an overview of ASEH’s finances as well as continued financial reporting to members at the annual meeting.

Work Plan. Upon approval of this strategic plan, ASEH leadership will develop a work plan that assigns responsibility for achieving these goals. This work plan will create opportunities for collaboration and direction for ASEH’s leadership, Council, and committees. ASEH’s leadership will provide a concise annual report to Council and the membership on progress toward those goals starting in spring 2027.

Contributors to the ASEH’s Strategic Planning process during 2026:

Working Group 1: Programming and Sustainability

Liza Piper, ASEH Council and Working Group Chair

Ramya Swayamprakash, ASEH Council

Faisal Husain, ASEH Council

Jay Turner, ASEH President

Brock Cutler, Sustainability Committee

Tim Lehman, ASEH Presents Committee

Diana Méndez, ASEH Connects Committee

Working Group 2: Membership and Inclusion

Melanie Kiechle, ASEH Council and Working Group Chair

Nancy Jacobs, ASEH Council and Past-President

Donal Thomas, ASEH Council and Early Career Caucus

Monica Rico, CODIE Chair

Adam Sundberg, Membership Committee

Kelly Enright, Professional Development Committee

Amy Kohut, Women’s Environmental History Network

Paul Nauert, Queer@EH

Working Group 3: Outreach and Public Engagement

Steve Hausmann, ASEH Council and Working Group Chair

Sarah Elkind, ASEH Council and Past-President

Claire Campbell, ASEH Secretary

Micah Muscolino, Education Committee

Carmen Bolt, Environmental History Week Committee

Working Group 4: Finances, Fundraising, and Governance

Chris Wells, ASEH Council and Working Group Chair

Sarah Mittlefehldt, ASEH Treasurer (June 2026-)

Fritz Davis, ASEH Treasurer (-May 2026)

Paul Sutter, ASEH President-Elect

Kendra Smith-Howard, ASEH Council

Jennifer Bonnell, Nominating Committee