Robert Suits
@robertsuits.bsky.social
Asst Prof/Lecturer in environmental history at University College London. Researching climate, energy, capitalism, and labo(u)r; author of The Hobo: A History of America's First Climate Migrants (Princeton University Press, 2026). Also novelist, musician.
pretty sure he was, actually
October 28, 2025 at 1:59 PM
pretty sure he was, actually
question answered, incidentally
October 19, 2025 at 1:05 PM
question answered, incidentally
Did "hand grenades" used to mean something else? Or was this fairly normal mixed used building in 1895 South Side Chicago packing a *lot* of heat?
October 18, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Did "hand grenades" used to mean something else? Or was this fairly normal mixed used building in 1895 South Side Chicago packing a *lot* of heat?
Coal is a fuel used almost exclusively in electricity generation, which is going out of business almost exclusively because it cannot compete with cheap fracked natural gas.
September 29, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Coal is a fuel used almost exclusively in electricity generation, which is going out of business almost exclusively because it cannot compete with cheap fracked natural gas.
Two environmental historians go for a short walk in London...
August 2, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Two environmental historians go for a short walk in London...
search box below the lede:
March 20, 2025 at 6:09 PM
search box below the lede:
well this could really go one of two ways
March 11, 2025 at 6:06 PM
well this could really go one of two ways
feels very telling that "decommodify" is marked as a spelling error
January 14, 2025 at 9:57 AM
feels very telling that "decommodify" is marked as a spelling error
literally the one and only reason I use Reddit is to get actual answers from actual humans, what the actual fuck is this, I hate it here
December 12, 2024 at 11:59 AM
literally the one and only reason I use Reddit is to get actual answers from actual humans, what the actual fuck is this, I hate it here
You, uh... you sure about that, grammar check?
November 30, 2024 at 1:55 PM
You, uh... you sure about that, grammar check?
Come to the UCL Anthropocene Histories Seminar, hosted online twice per term this year! Details below -- it's an absolutely stellar lineup of scholars.
October 16, 2024 at 10:40 AM
Come to the UCL Anthropocene Histories Seminar, hosted online twice per term this year! Details below -- it's an absolutely stellar lineup of scholars.
Full draft edit time!
![A stack of manuscript paper; the top page begins "Introduction [...] They found the boys hiding by a stream, trying to catch catfish with their bare hands."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jenhljo6xs32gmkabw4mbxpo/bafkreiduth4x5hm4se4n5dojc6ifuetudtxyytjhvjqyqf3mimg3dej26i@jpeg)
September 6, 2024 at 1:39 PM
Full draft edit time!
Wild strawberries from near our house in Durham!
June 24, 2024 at 10:38 AM
Wild strawberries from near our house in Durham!
hmm what about this from Bar-On et al 2018? trusts that the reader can infer why this is important, of course.
April 3, 2024 at 1:27 PM
hmm what about this from Bar-On et al 2018? trusts that the reader can infer why this is important, of course.
I think because the relatively robust global petroleum market mean US oil markets/gas prices are actually affected by international trends (pretty much no other energy commodity has ever been traded at the same scale), Americans don't think of the US as oil rich.
But hoo boy, it REALLY is.
But hoo boy, it REALLY is.
March 12, 2024 at 6:54 PM
I think because the relatively robust global petroleum market mean US oil markets/gas prices are actually affected by international trends (pretty much no other energy commodity has ever been traded at the same scale), Americans don't think of the US as oil rich.
But hoo boy, it REALLY is.
But hoo boy, it REALLY is.
U.S. livestock masses, c. 1840-2015. Chicken was almost exclusively a seasonal meat until relatively recently.
March 9, 2024 at 10:55 PM
U.S. livestock masses, c. 1840-2015. Chicken was almost exclusively a seasonal meat until relatively recently.
"I am nearly certain this did not actually happen."
September 30, 2023 at 1:44 AM
"I am nearly certain this did not actually happen."
trawling University websites and reminded of this gem
September 11, 2023 at 11:31 AM
trawling University websites and reminded of this gem
A beautiful passage from the very end of Heather Davis's excellent book Plastic Matter (2022), on the complex feelings of enjoying nature.
September 8, 2023 at 12:16 PM
A beautiful passage from the very end of Heather Davis's excellent book Plastic Matter (2022), on the complex feelings of enjoying nature.
One trick that has been absurdly successful for me (for kicking multiple projects into a new gear) has been to literally handwrite first drafts. It's been lovely, oddly therapeutic, and crazy productive!
(Doesn't hurt my history to sketch figures and maps directly into the first draft, either...)
(Doesn't hurt my history to sketch figures and maps directly into the first draft, either...)
September 1, 2023 at 12:19 AM
One trick that has been absurdly successful for me (for kicking multiple projects into a new gear) has been to literally handwrite first drafts. It's been lovely, oddly therapeutic, and crazy productive!
(Doesn't hurt my history to sketch figures and maps directly into the first draft, either...)
(Doesn't hurt my history to sketch figures and maps directly into the first draft, either...)
Someone is really making focusing on the writing difficult today
August 25, 2023 at 3:46 PM
Someone is really making focusing on the writing difficult today
from my current article project, dropped without comment...
August 10, 2023 at 12:36 PM
from my current article project, dropped without comment...
...the other end is an industrial park. (Well, actually the substation attached to an industrial park -- power needs to be stepped up in voltage for long-distance transmission to avoid power loss and then stepped back down for normal use.)
August 10, 2023 at 9:46 AM
...the other end is an industrial park. (Well, actually the substation attached to an industrial park -- power needs to be stepped up in voltage for long-distance transmission to avoid power loss and then stepped back down for normal use.)