No matter the emphasis on research at annual professional conferences, and the often welcome respite from classrooms that these conferences give us, for most environmental historians our primary mission remains one of teaching in those classrooms. Tiya Miles, Katherine Morrissey, Bill Cronon, and Brett Walker contextualized this mission within the practice of environmental history at a plenary session at the recent ASEH annual meeting in Seattle. At a time when enrollments in history courses are declining, how and what we teach has acquired a more pressing relevance. Brett Walker and Bill Cronon talked about the vitality of environmental history in the context of declining enrollments in history courses - our interdisciplinary field is able to attract students outside the field of history, and most importantly from the STEM disciplines, and environmental history courses might be one way that enrollments in history programs can be restored.

Environmental history courses can also take students to the field, and give them the kind of multi-dimensional education experience that classroom and online courses cannot. Katherine Morrissey's meditation on all the ways that environmental history can (and does) go into the field to teach students was perhaps the most resonant of this panel. But more importantly, environmental history courses can teach the core values of a liberal arts education, can embrace diversity, can provide students with opportunities to become who they want to be, and, as Tiya Miles eloquently explained, can allow students to feel "connected, supported, and nourished" by what they are learning about both individual and collective experiences with the natural environment.

Two other sessions at the meeting, one on teaching global environmental history and another on using experiential learning to teach environmental history, gave presenters representing the full range of institutions and public outreach programs in which most of us teach a venue to talk about other perspectives on teaching our field. Collectively, all of them reminded us of what most of us do most of the time, how to be more thoughtful about how to do it, and of the vitality and expansiveness of environmental history as a holistic counterpoint to online education as well as a medium for teaching fledgling scientists and engineers as well as humanists.  

By Julie Cohn, University of Houston

At ASEH's Seattle conference on March 31 a lively and enthusiastic group of nearly seventy individuals gathered for the first ever Women's Networking Reception at ASEH! The organizers of this event hoped to encourage greater visibility, interaction, and support for the women who are active in environmental history. Nancy Jacobs gave a warm welcome to everyone in attendance, thanked our sponsors, and invited those present to really focus on making new contacts and expanding networks within ASEH. While this gathering was billed as a "women's" event, we enjoyed the company of several men, and in general hoped to create an open atmosphere for anyone seeking to connect to others working in the field.

During her remarks, Nancy noted briefly that the event organizers are interested, among other matters, in understanding and addressing barriers to women pursuing professions in environmental history, while at the same time supporting and expanding opportunities for success. To that end, we are gathering data related to participation in the field and how that is reflected in publications, reviews, conference presentations, and related matters. Going forward, we plan to share our findings with those involved in the networking group, and with the ASEH board.

In the course of the evening, several individuals proposed an informal goal of holding similar networking receptions at environmental history meetings around the world. By acclimation, those in attendance created a new entity, tentatively titled "Women's Environmental History Network (WEHN)" and raised $100 to join the International Consortium of Environmental History Organizations. We also raised an additional $120 in support of future gatherings at ASEH.

The reception was great fun! It lasted well past the scheduled ending time, and guests continued visiting while the hotel staff converted the room for the next event.

In the relatively near future, we will create a permanent email list and provide periodic communications to interested participants. If you would like to be included on this list, please send your name and email address to Julie Cohn at jacohn@uh.edu. (Please consider re-sending your information even if you added your email address to the sign-in sheets at the reception).

This spring, the caucus will assemble the groups interested in planning graduate student events for ASEH 2017 in Chicago as well as year-round community-building. We will host another round of the graduate student writing workshop. Planners will recruit faculty, advertise, and select graduate student participants. Grads were also enthusiastic about planning a teaching panel that would be of use to graduate students.  Jessica DeWitt will lead the development of a digital presence for ASEH grad students so that we can remain connected between conferences. Contact her at jessicamariedewitt@gmail.com to be added to the new ASEH Grad Student Caucus Facebook group or to join her in organizing ASEH grad contributions to existing environmental history blogs.

As the 2016 Graduate Student Liaison, I am the point person for organizing the events for ASEH 2017. If you have questions or comments, or are interested in participating in any of the committees, please email me. The caucus particularly hopes to hear from Chicago-area graduate students who can help us plan local social gatherings. Thanks to the volunteers and organizers who helped make the ASEH grad student events of 2016 so popular and successful. I look forward to working with many of you in planning the events for 2017.

Rachel Gross

rsgross@wisc.edu