I am a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, where I am writing an environmental history of the expedition of Thomas de Grey, Sixth Baron Walsingham through Northern California and Southern Oregon (1871-1872). Using zoological collections to fill in gaps in the expedition’s history, my work explores the unique position of predator animals represented by such field collections to describe how historical ecological networks and trophic relationships intersected with empire, knowledge production, and Indigenous history in the American west. I am a member of the editorial team at the Network in Canadian History and Environment (NiCHE) where I work on The Otter blog, and I direct the Predator Microhistory Network, a GIS project and hypertext database working within and beyond the environmental humanities to build an interactive global map of predator microhistories which details the lives of historical predators, their representative ecologies and communities, and provides a model by which scholars and the public can explore the entanglements between them (gratefully, with Dr Jessica DeWitt’s added insights into intersectional dialogue). I hold an M.Res. in English Literature from Glasgow University (2019). Prior to joining Cambridge, I was an independent scholar (2020-2024). I create, cultivate, edit and write in Cambridge, England, where my partner Nathanial and I are managed by two beautiful cats. A list of work can be found here. She/Her.
The scope of my research interest lies principally in long nineteenth century histories which challenge and expand our understanding of the relationships between settlers, environment, and animals we conceive of as predators to consider their greater ecological context. My favourite projects walk with predator histories and microhistories, both to do better service by them and as a means to explore the pathways and patterns by which human ideas about what we broadly conceive of as “nature” are formed, transmitted, and changed over time (including through examinations of gender, folklorics, and ocassionally, ecocriticism). At NiCHE, I curate work which considers historical and folkloric multi-species connections. Glasgow University evolved my interests towards reading nineteenth century material for multispecies and environmental connection. Prior to my time at Glasgow, I worked as an English, Writing, and Creative Enrichment tutor in the Academic Resource Center for the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation in Brooks, California.
Thank you for your interest in my work and in our field. It is a special community which I feel very fortunate to be a part of. With collaborative inquiries, or to pitch for The Otter, please contact me. I look forward to learning with you!
Instagram: @carolinecorinne.
Twitter (X): @c_the_abbott.
Bluesky: @carolineabbott.bsky.social.
¿Tienes preguntas sobre historia ambiental o NiCHE? Hablo (y escribo) un poquito Español!
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Tha mi ag ionnsachadh cànan mo sheanmhair.
Sto imparando la lingua di mia nonna.