Jesse Smith

Mellon Dissertation Fellow 2018-2019, Penn Program in Environmental Humanities

Doctoral Candidate, History and Sociology of Science

2018 - 2019

Jesse Smith is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania with research interests in environmental history, the history of technology, and the material dimensions of consumer experiential products in the second half of the 20th century. He is currently completing a dissertation on the environmental, technological, and infrastructural history of the mass-market cruise industry in Miami, Florida, in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s. He is also interested in public projects and programs that engage environmental, technological, and scientific topics for broader audiences. Prior to coming to Penn, he was a writer and editor who covered museums and environmental sites for publications including the Washington Post. He has also developed interpretive content for the museum of the Science History Institute that explores the material and scientific qualities of contemporary life.