Open research questions in American Environmental and Regional History
156 gap statements mined from American Environmental and Regional History papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 2,172 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.
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What the literature leaves open
I define ignorance as a state of limited knowledge, held by groups, and produced through social processes.
Ignorance and Environmental History: The Opening of an Arctic Offshore Oil Frontier, 1968–1976 · 2024 · DOIThe research highlights the need for greater recognition of the importance of conservation labour in shaping environmental outcomes. The study suggests that the development of a labour theory of the environmental state can help to address this gap.
Although the overall influence of the 1934 Survey on the location of electricity distribution in North Carolina remains an open question, this work highlights the ways an energopolitical project—rural electrification—intersects with a key biopolitical technology—state racism, thus providing a better understanding of the relationship between energy and social power.
Race, Space, and Electric Power: Jim Crow and the 1934 North Carolina Rural Electrification Survey · 2016 · DOITeaching is limited to the production of summary texts involving the sorting, ranking, and reformulation of what the student has read or heard. To date, note taking has not been widely studied because of its functional complexity and the need to develop methods in order to carry out such studies (Piolat, Olive & Kellogg, 2005).
There is a lack of understanding about how local newspapers cover complex scientific issues like radon. There is a need to assess the impact of newspaper coverage on public awareness and understanding of radon.
Externalities or spillovers that occur when a problem involves two or more states. The need to correct for externalities in state policymaking. The complexity of interstate cooperation.
The need to correct for externalities in state policymaking. The lack of analysis on the influences of socioeconomic factors and interdependence on compact participation.
The lack of consideration of environmental history in understanding and managing environmental systems. The need for longer, richer histories of environmental response to human activities.
The impact of mechanization and unionization on the piece-rate system in California canneries was not well understood. The effects of changing technical and labor market conditions on worker productivity and earnings were not well analyzed.
The gap is addressed by analyzing the three films as metaphors for the American Dream.
There is a gap between the common perception of the Midwest and the region's actual complexity and diversity. Geographers have failed to provide an accurate representation of the region.
The study of historical development is challenging due to the lack of available data. The influence of individual actions on landscape evolution is difficult to quantify.
THE UPPER COLUMBIA VALLEY 1900‐20: AN ASSESSMENT OF ‘BOOSTERISM’ AND THE ‘BIOGRAPHY OF LANDSCAPE’ · 1985 · DOIThe role of individual actions in shaping the cultural landscape is often overlooked. There is a need to examine the development of the Upper Columbia Valley and the importance of individual actions.
THE UPPER COLUMBIA VALLEY 1900‐20: AN ASSESSMENT OF ‘BOOSTERISM’ AND THE ‘BIOGRAPHY OF LANDSCAPE’ · 1985 · DOIThe need for further study on the impact of human activity and natural forces on coastal areas. The need for research on effective strategies for managing coastal areas.
The lack of clear federal policies on coastal erosion, public beach access, and hurricane evacuation planning. The need for effective implementation of the Coastal Zone Management Program.
The need for research and development to produce retention programs that are effective. The lack of individual attention to students, which can lead to attrition.
The paper identifies a need for a comprehensive list of significant titles relevant to communication literature of the South. The bibliography aims to fill this gap by providing a list of publications from leading fields of study.
The lack of a consensual corporatism between capital and labor. The need for a differentiated trade policy.
Minding America’s Business: The Decline and Rise of the American Economy by Ira C. Magaziner and Robert B. Reich, and The Deindustrialization of America: Plant Closings, Community Abandonment, and the Dismantling of Basic Industry by Barry Bluestone and Bennett Harrison · 1983 · DOIFuture research can build on the bibliography by exploring new topics and figures related to Southern public address. Scholars can use the bibliography as a starting point for further research on the history and development of public address in the Southern United States.
Future research could explore the application of the paper's findings to other regions. Future research could examine the impact of transportation and land development policies on the public interest.
Land Speculation in Southern California: The Roles of Railroads, Trolley Lines and Autos · 1982 · DOIThe paper identifies a need for a critique of land speculation on the Southern California model.
Land Speculation in Southern California: The Roles of Railroads, Trolley Lines and Autos · 1982 · DOITo fill this gap, other studies could be conducted to understand how path dependency, adaptations, and informal rules have and have not contributed to sustainable water management in the CRB - Identifying the shortcomings of historic and legacy water governance may help inform more effective strategies for future adaptations - Factors that may shape and influence decision-making, such as informal rules and norms…
There is limited information on public perceptions of environmental conditions during the 1980s, - There is a lack of trend data on public opinion on environmental…
Polls, Pollution, and Politics Revisited Public Opinion on the Environment in the Reagan Era · 1987 · DOIThe development of longer, richer histories of environmental response to human activities. The integration of historical data into environmental policy and management decisions.
The higher education community faces a complex environment, - The community lacks effective mechanisms for cooperation and coordination…
Most-cited papers in American Environmental and Regional History
- The Climate of History: Four Theses · Critical Inquiry · 2008 · 2,315 citations
- Sparks and prairie fires: A theory of unanticipated political revolution · Public Choice · 1989 · 561 citations
- The Nation-State and the Natural Environment over the Twentieth Century · American Sociological Review · 2000 · 375 citations
- First World Political Ecology: Lessons from the Wise Use Movement · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · 2002 · 254 citations
- The Cultures of Area Studies in the United States · Social Text · 1994 · 221 citations
- Welcome to the Desert of the Real! · South Atlantic Quarterly · 2002 · 195 citations
- Mutant Ecologies: Radioactive Life in Post-Cold War New Mexico · Cultural Anthropology · 2004 · 195 citations
- Contested Identities: Human-Environment Geography and Disciplinary Implications in a Restructuring Academy · Annals of the Association of American Geographers · 2002 · 179 citations
- Climate and Capital: On Conjoined Histories · Critical Inquiry · 2014 · 175 citations
- On Abolition Ecologies and Making “Freedom as a Place” · Antipode · 2020 · 171 citations
Most recent work
- RCC Perspectives, Vol. 7 (2011): Consigning Environmentalism to History? Remarks on the Place of the Environmental Movement in Modern History · Universitätsbibliothek der LMU · 2026
- RCC Perspectives, Vol. 1 (2014): The Edges of Environmental History: Honouring Jane Carruthers · 2026
- The Role of Local Conservation Policies in Shaping Land Use: A Socioecological Systems Analysis in the Hudson River Estuary Watershed in New York State · Annals of the American Association of Geographers · 2026
- Redlined Neighborhoods, Yellowlined Recreation, Greenlined Parks: The Legacy of HOLC & Parks · Leisure Sciences · 2026
- Smog and Sunshine: The Surprising Story of How Los Angeles Cleaned Up Its Air · Journal of the American Planning Association · 2026
- Centring the South: new scholarship on southern planning history · Planning Perspectives · 2026
- R hee Pollyanna, Natural Attachments. The Domestication of American Environmentalism, 1920–1970 , Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 2025, 220 p., 32 $ · 20 & 21 Revue d histoire · 2026
- Nature or Theme Parks? Addressing US National Park Overcrowding Through Entrance Fees · University of Tampa Institutional Repository · 2026
- Review of A Socialist Utopia in the New South: The Ruskin Colonies in Tennessee and Georgia, 1894-1901 · Communal Societies · 2026
- Review of “The Rise and Fall of Synanon, A California Utopia” · Communal Societies · 2026
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