Erik is an environmental historian specializing in the historic dimensions of dam removal and fisheries restoration in New England. He earned PhD from the University of Maine in 2016 and later served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of history and environmental studies at Colby College and Bates College in Maine. His first book, Managing the River Commons: Fishing and New England's Rural Economy was published by the University of Massachusetts Press in 2021. Recently, Erik also worked with the Adirondack Experience Museum, the Wild Center, the Nature Conservancy, and the Adirondack Diversity Initiative to develop and direct the public humanities project "Adirondacks for All" which explored the region's history and present-day reality through an expansive lens of environmental justice.
Erik enjoys getting outside, running trails, and fly-fishing rivers and streams across the northeast. While committed to protecting wild spaces for their capacity to revitalize and restore the human spirit, Erik approaches the pressing work of environmental preservation with the recognition that the natural world has inherent value and rights independent of human designs. He is delighted to support Talking Rivers and their work to elevate rights of nature in the public imagination with the goal of protecting the health and wellbeing of North Country rivers.
