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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · 2d

Looking forward to presenting my paper: 'High, Open, Bleak and Boggy: How Scotland's Environment Shaped Its Involvement In The Second World War' at the 'Scotland and World War Two' conference at Perth UHI on Friday 7 November, 9am to 3pm. Contact Lars Cook at [email protected] for more info.

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · 24d

Interesting looking exhibition on at The Wellcome Collection in London at the moment: wellcomecollection.org/exhibitions/...

Thirst: In Search of Freshwater

Our new exhibition explores humanity’s vital connection with freshwater – an essential source of life and pillar of good health for people and planet.

wellcomecollection.org

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Sep 5

Clear Air Act 1956; the defining of "the environment" by name as an issue and related to that the rise of environmental organisations; the creation of The Ecology>>Green Party; the eventual rise of alternative renewable sources of energy: on + offshore wind and solar - but not nuclear; recycling...

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Aug 24

Just had a city break in Stockholm. Amazing visit to the VasaMuseet. A must for every historian, whatever their specialist period/issue.

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Aug 13

Am rather worried that if I dream of holding up a Support Palestine Action piece of card that Yvette (Labour Friend of Israel) Cooper's thought police will come knocking on my door.

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Aug 1

Looking forward to presenting my paper on The Dambusters' Raid as an act of environmental warfare, at the RAF Museum's conference on 4th and 5th September @pastpreservers.bsky.social www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/whats...

New Perspectives in Military Aviation – RAFM Conference 2025

Join the RAF Museum London for a 2-day hybrid conference exploring fresh perspectives on military aviation history, strategy and legacies.

www.rafmuseum.org.uk

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Jul 26

Interesting article I'm currently reading: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

The Future of (Environmental) History: A Roundtable Discussion | Transactions of the Royal Historical Society | Cambridge Core

The Future of (Environmental) History: A Roundtable Discussion

www.cambridge.org

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Jul 21

My latest blog is up, about the Council for the Preservation of Rural England's activities during the Second World War; based on a paper I gave at the Institute of Historical Research in February; @katrinanavickas.bsky.social @dudleymarianna.bsky.social blogs.kent.ac.uk/munitions-of...

‘Prepared To Make a Fine Fuss’: The Council for the Preservation of Rural England’s Long Second World War – Munitions of the Mind

blogs.kent.ac.uk

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Jul 20

The carbon footprint of the Israeli State and Israeli "Defence" Force's war on Gaza: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Carbon footprint of Israel’s war on Gaza exceeds that of many entire countries

Exclusive: The climate cost is more than than the combined 2023 emissions of Costa Rica and Estonia, study finds

www.theguardian.com

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Jul 15

4 years 3 months sentence for destroying a national landmark? A laughable punishment, and they'll be out in two years on parole to add insult to injury. Should have been twice as long a sentence, at least. media.zenfs.com/en/the_indep...

media.zenfs.com

Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Jul 2

Investigation into environmental pollution by British military bases: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Fears that UK military bases may be leaking toxic ‘forever chemicals’ into drinking water

Bases in Norfolk, Devon and Hampshire face MoD investigation over possible leaching of dangerous PFAS into environment

www.theguardian.com

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Jul 1

With my National Archives User Advisory Group Academic & Environmental Representative hat on, here's a plug for TNA's Government Web Archive: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/webarchive/

UK Government Web Archive

We capture, preserve, and make accessible UK central government information published on the web from 1996 to present.

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Jun 5

Delighted to have been accepted on to the National Archives' Independent Researcher list, covering C20th UK History, general research, British Army and the RAF @nationalarchives.gov.uk.web.brid.gy; www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/irlist/defau...

Independent researchers | The National Archives

Find an independent researcher - search by research specialism

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Jun 1

Have you tried Vit B2? I take 400 mgs a day.

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · May 31

Really enjoying Michael Lobel's 'envhist book' on Van Gogh's engagement through his art with industrialisation: uk.bookshop.org/p/books/van-...

Van Gogh and the End of Nature a book by Michael Lobel.

A groundbreaking reassessment that foregrounds Van Gogh’s profound engagement with the industrial age while making his work newly relevant for our world today “Van Gogh has never seemed more relevant...

uk.bookshop.org

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · May 15

Will be speaking about the Dambusters' Raid as an act of environmental warfare on the second day of the RAF Museum's annual conference in September; @rafmuseum.bsky.social www.rafmuseum.org.uk/midlands/wha...

RAF Museum Conference 2025 - RAF Museum

A two day conference that discusses new perspectives in military aviation research, running from 3 - 4 September 2025. Discounted tickets available.

www.rafmuseum.org.uk

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · May 7

Delighted that my abstract's been accepted for the RAF Museum's conference on 4/5 September. Am presenting a paper showing Operation Chastise/Dambusters' Raid to be an act of environmental warfare in addition to the established narratives of technical boffinry and dashing heroism.

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Apr 29

Looking forward to hearing @dudleymarianna.bsky.social and @matthewjkelly.bsky.social at Queen Mary University's 'British History Today' Thursday/Friday 1 & 2 May: projects.history.qmul.ac.uk/qmcbs/britis....

British History Today – Queen Mary Centre for British Studies

projects.history.qmul.ac.uk

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Mar 30

Looking forward to chairing the 'Redefining Physical and Interdisciplinary Frontiers' session at 1030 on Friday 11 April at the American Society for Environmental History's annual conference in Pittsburgh @aseh.bsky.social

Reposted by Dr Gary Willis

Conflict and Environment Observatory @ceobs.org · Mar 5

Israeli settlers tripled their attacks on #WestBank olive farmers during the 2024 harvest, destroying 3,100 trees and injuring dozens, while restricted land access cost Palestinian farmers 1,365 tons of oil. news.mongabay.com/2025/03/gaza...

Gaza and West Bank farmers salvage olive harvest amid displacement, destruction and Israeli settler violence

After Israel and the de facto government of the Gaza Strip, Hamas, agreed to a ceasefire beginning Jan. 19, Gaza’s olive farmers headed back to what’s left of their Khan Yunis and Rafah olive groves f...

news.mongabay.com

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Mar 5

A plug for 'Forgotten: searching for Palestine's hidden places and lost memorials' by Raja Shehadeh & Penny Johnson, about the cultural erasure practised by the Israeli State and its illegal settlers. uk.bookshop.org/p/books/forg...

Forgotten: Searching for Palestine’s Hidden Places and Lost Memorials a book by Raja Shehadeh and Penny Johnson.

Forgotten is a search for hidden or neglected memorials and places in historic Palestine - now Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories - and what they might tell us about the land and the peop...

uk.bookshop.org

Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Mar 3

5.30 to 7pm, Tuesday 4 March in-person at IHR, London and online, David Matless talking about his book, 'England's Green: www.history.ac.uk/events/engla...

England’s green: nature and culture since the 1960s

www.history.ac.uk

Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Feb 28

Delighted that my latest journal article is just out: 'Where Amenity and Modernity Collided: the Lake District National Park and West Cumberland's Atomic Coast' @uobrishistory.bsky.social @uobrisceh.bsky.social @jofhistgeog.bsky.social @pastpreservers.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.jh...

Redirecting

doi.org

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Feb 18

My talk 'Prepared to Make a Fine Fuss' about British environmental organisations in the Second World War, coming up on Wednesday 26 February, at the Institute of Historical Research, London, 5.30 to 7pm in person and online @ihr.bsky.social @themerl.bsky.social www.history.ac.uk/events/prepa...

‘Prepared To Make a Fine Fuss’: Civil Society’s Contestation of the Environmental Impact of Britain’s Long Second World War, 1936–46

www.history.ac.uk

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Dr Gary Willis @garywenvhist.bsky.social · Feb 6

I've just written a blog about how historians - environmental historians in particular - can support the work of the National Archives User Advisory Group @ihr.bsky.social blog.history.ac.uk/2025/02/the-...

The National Archives User Advisory Group – An Opportunity to Feed Into Its Work - On History

This blog post was written by Gary Willis, IHR alumni and Academic & Environmental Representative of The National Archives’ User Advisory Group. This is an opportunity for historians associated with I...

blog.history.ac.uk

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