Dr. Joshua Nygren

Curriculum Vita

Education

Ph.D. University of Kansas

B.A. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Areas of Interest

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  (University of North Carolina Press, 2025), 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 US 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.