My name is Jonathan (he/him).
I am a historian and ethnographer of modern sciences & environments. I am most interested in how multispecies historical and ethnographic methods can be brought to bear on how natural history, biology, and geology intersect with projects of resource-making, energy production, and environmental governance. My current work thinks about how scientists and others encountered, valued, and archived deep Pacific oceanic spaces after the late 19th century.
I am currently a PhD Candidate in the History of Science Department at Harvard University. In 2023-2024, I am a visiting doctoral candidate in the Environmental Studies Department at Yale-NUS College, Singapore. In Singapore, I also work with the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art on projects related to climate crises, maritime cultural history, and ocean infrastructure.
My work has been supported by the Canada Program at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History, and by a Harvard University Presidential Fellowship.
Please see respective pages on this site for more information regarding teaching, writing, and speaking.
I am a historian and ethnographer of modern sciences & environments. I am most interested in how multispecies historical and ethnographic methods can be brought to bear on how natural history, biology, and geology intersect with projects of resource-making, energy production, and environmental governance. My current work thinks about how scientists and others encountered, valued, and archived deep Pacific oceanic spaces after the late 19th century.
I am currently a PhD Candidate in the History of Science Department at Harvard University. In 2023-2024, I am a visiting doctoral candidate in the Environmental Studies Department at Yale-NUS College, Singapore. In Singapore, I also work with the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art on projects related to climate crises, maritime cultural history, and ocean infrastructure.
My work has been supported by the Canada Program at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History, and by a Harvard University Presidential Fellowship.
Please see respective pages on this site for more information regarding teaching, writing, and speaking.
Depressiscala nautlae in beach drift. Boca Raton, Florida. As a queer, Latino, first-generation college grad, I am as passionate about mentorship as I am about my research. If you’re considering graduate school, and think it would be helpful to chat about your plans (or ocean history, or multispecies methods, or snails), please get in touch.
︎ jgalka@g.harvard.edu