Christine Keiner Headshot

Christine Keiner

Department Chair

Department of Science, Technology, and Society
College of Liberal Arts

585-475-4698
Office Location
Office Mailing Address
01-1311

Christine Keiner

Department Chair

Department of Science, Technology, and Society
College of Liberal Arts

Education

BA, Western Maryland College; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University

Bio

B.A. Biology, McDaniel College (formerly Western Maryland College)
Ph.D. History of Science, Medicine, and Technology, Johns Hopkins University

Winner of the 2010 Forum for the History of Science in America Book Prize, Maryland Historical Trust Heritage Book Award, and Honorable Mention from the Frederick Jackson Turner Committee of the Organization of American Historians

Research Interest: History of ecology and biology, history of Cold War science and technology, U.S. environmental politics, and relations between science and politics

Courses: Science, Technology and Values; Introduction to Environmental Studies; Great Lakes; History of Ecology and Environmentalism; History of Women in Science and Engineering; Environmental Disasters; Engineering in American Culture; Honors STS: The Panama Canal; Honors STS: Food and Power in U.S. History; Interdisciplinary Capstone Seminar in Science, Technology and the Environment

585-475-4698

Areas of Expertise

Select Scholarship

Published Review
Keiner, Christine. "The Cost of Scientific Patronage." Rev. of Science on a Mission: How Military Funding Shaped What We Do and Don’t Know about the Ocean, by Naomi Oreskes. Science 16 Apr. 2021: 245. Print.
Keiner, Christine. Rev. of Why Study Biology by the Sea?, eds. Karl S. Matlin, Jane Maienschein, and Rachel A. Ankeny. Social History of Medicine 2020: hkaa108. Web.
Keiner, Christine. Rev. of Pesticides, A Love Story, by Michelle Mart. Journal of American History 1 Jun. 2017: 261-262. Print.
Keiner, Christine. "Multiple Authored Invited Review." Rev. of The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail by W. Jeffrey Bolster, ed. Jacob Hamblin. H-Environment Roundtable Reviews 15 May 2014: 5-9. Web.
Keiner, Christine.Rev. of The Fishermen’s Frontier: People and Salmon in Southeast Alaska. David F. Arnold. Agricultural History, 84.4 (2010): 546-548. Print.
Invited Keynote/Presentation
Keiner, Christine. "The Chesapeake: Prologue to the Anthropocene." Estuaries and the Anthropocene. Texas A&M University. Galveston, TX. 21 May 2021. Conference Presentation.
Keiner, Christine. "Humboldt and the Unbuilt Central American Canal." North American Society for Oceanic History. North American Society for Oceanic History. Pensacola, FL. 8 Jul. 2021. Conference Presentation.
Keiner, Christine. "Recovering Hidden Histories of Marine and Aquatic Invasion Biology." 26th International Congress of History of Science and Technology. ICHST. Prague, Czech Republic. 26 Jul. 2021. Conference Presentation.
Keiner, Christine. "Joys and Challenges of Teaching STS to Career-Focused STEM Students." Society for the Social Studies of Science. Society for the Social Studies of Science. Toronto, Ontario. 9 Oct. 2021. Conference Presentation.
Keiner, Christine. "The Joys and Challenges of Teaching and Researching STS at an Engineering School." Missouri S&T Center for Science, Technology, and Society Virtual Visiting Speaker Series. Missouri University of Science and Technology. Rolla, MO. 26 Feb. 2021. Guest Lecture.
Keiner, Christine. "Deep Cut: Science, Power, and the Unbuilt Interoceanic Canal." Greenhouse Environmental Humanities Book Talks. University of Stavanger, Norway. Stavanger, Norway. 7 Jun. 2021. Guest Lecture.
Keiner, Christine. "Deep Cut." History of Ocean Science, Technology and Medicine Working Group. Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine. Philadelphia, PA. 21 Jul. 2020. Guest Lecture.
Keiner, Christine. "STRI and the Unbuilt Central American Sea-Level Canal." Virtual Science Talks. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Panama City, Panama. 4 Sep. 2020. Guest Lecture.
Keiner, Christine. "Roundtable: Revisiting Neptune’s Garden: Science, Technology, and Environment in Oceanic History." North American Society for Oceanic History. North American Society for Oceanic History. New Bedford, Massachusetts. 17 May 2019. Conference Presentation.
Keiner, Christine. "The Unbuilt Central American Sea-Level Canal and the Environmental History of Unrealized Megaprojects." American Society for Environmental History. American Society for Environmental History. Columbus, Ohio. 11 Apr. 2019. Conference Presentation.
Keiner, Christine. "Domesticating the Maryland Oyster: From Regulated Commons to Aquaculture Enterprise Zones." Agricultural Historical Society. Agricultural Historical Society. Washington, DC. 7 Jun. 2019. Conference Presentation.
Keiner, Christine. "Marine Environmental History from the Chesapeake Bay to the Panama Canal." National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute for College and University Faculty: The American Maritime People. Frank C. Munson Institute of American Maritime Studies, Mystic Seaport Museum. Mystic, Connecticut. 13 Jul. 2018. Guest Lecture.
Keiner, Christine. "Invasive Species Research in the Great Lakes: A Brief and Selective History." Science and Technology Seminar. University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Rochester, New York. 13 Apr. 2018. Guest Lecture.
Keiner, Christine. "Lake Ontario Levels and Plan 2014: Environmental Redemption or Disaster?" Lecture Series. RIT Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Rochester, New York. 27 Sep. 2018. Guest Lecture.
Keiner, Christine. "Panelist." Greenland Under the Arctic Sky. RIT College of Imaging Arts and Sciences, School of Photographic Arts and Sciences. Rochester, New York. 13 Sep. 2018. Lecture.
Keiner, Christine. "From Fallout to Sea Snakes: The Panatomic Canal Debate and Pre-NEPA Environmental Impact Assessment." Society for the History of Technology. SHOT. St. Louis, Missouri. 13 Oct. 2018. Conference Presentation.
Full Length Book
Keiner, Christine. Deep Cut: Science, Power, and the Unbuilt Interoceanic Canal. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2020. Print.
Journal Paper
Keiner, Christine. "The Maryland Oyster Aquaculture Transition: Balancing Economics, Ecology, and Equity." Southeastern Geographer 59. (2019): 40-51. Print.
Keiner, Christine. "A Two-Ocean Bouillabaisse: Science, Politics, and the Central American Sea-Level Canal Controversy." Journal of the History of Biology 50. 4 (2017): 835-887. Print.
Keiner, Christine and Ashley Carse, Pamela M. Henson, Marixa Lasso, Paul S. Sutter, Megan Raby and Blake Scott. "Panama Canal Forum: From the Conquest of Nature to the Construction of New Ecologies." Environmental History 21. (2016): 206-287. Print.
National/International Competition Award Winner
Keiner, Christine. Journal of the History of Biology. 2019 Everett Mendelsohn Prize. Utrecht, Netherlands, 2019.
Journal Editor
Member, Editorial Board, ed. Journal of the History of Biology. Springer Netherlands: Springer, 2018. Print.
Published Book
Keiner, Christine. The Oyster Question: Scientists, Watermen, and the Maryland Chesapeake Bay since 1880. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2010. Print.
Formal Presentation
Keiner, Christine. “Reconnecting Marylanders with their Oyster Heritage: A Century of Political Resistance to Privatizing the Oyster Beds of the Maryland Chesapeake Bay.” Ninth Maritime Heritage Conference. Baltimore, MD. 15-19 Sept. 2010. Presentation.
Keiner, Christine. “Building a Better Oyster: The Rise of the Pacific Northwest Marine Biotechnology Industrial-Academic Complex.” Society for the History of Technology (SHOT). Tacoma, WA. 30 Oct. - 3 Sept. 2010. Presentation.
Keiner, Christine. “The Sea-Level Panama Canal Debate as aCold War Forum for Emerging EnvironmentalConcerns.” Tri-University History Conference on Cold War Encounters. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. 16 Oct. 2010. Presentation.
Keiner, Christine. “The Sea-Level Panama Canal Debate and the Uneasy Integration of Ecological and Engineering Concerns in the Early Modern Environmental Era.” North American Society for Oceanic History. Mystic, CN. 12-16 May 2010. Presentation.
Keiner, Christine. “The Sea-Level Panama Canal Debate as aCold War Forum for Emerging Environmental Concerns.” Association of American Geographers. Washington, DC. 14-18 Apr. 2010. Presentation.
Keiner, Christine. “Scientists, Watermen, and Conflict in the Maryland Chesapeake Oyster Fishery,1880-2010.” University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Horn Point Laboratory Faculty Seminar. Cambridge, MD.20 Oct. 2010. Presentation.
Keiner, Christine. Inaugural Presentation. Farming for the Future Seminar Series, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Baltimore, MD. 20 Sept. 2010. Presentation.

Currently Teaching

HIST-345
3 Credits
This class will survey the history environmental disasters (from floods to oil spills) in modern American and global society. Students will study several specific disasters (for example, Hurricane Katrina, the Great Midwestern Floods of the 1990s, Love Canal, and the Haitian Earthquake of 2008) and analyze a series of broader themes that illuminate their meaning, including the economic impact of various disasters, the legal and political ramifications of modern disasters, and the social and cultural meaning of disasters in various societies.
STSO-120
3 Credits
This course explores the human condition within an environmental context by emphasizing critical environmental problems facing humans on both a global and regional scale. The approach will be interdisciplinary. The issues, their causes, and their potential solutions will be analyzed with respect to ethical, social, historical, political, scientific, and technological factors.
STSO-246
3 Credits
Using biographical and social-historical approaches, this course examines the history of women's involvement in science and engineering since the birth of modern science in the seventeenth century; the historical roots of gender bias in the Western scientific enterprise; and the influx of women into science and engineering since the mid-to-late 20th century. Cross-listed with women's and gender studies.
STSO-422
3 Credits
This course utilizes the Great Lakes Basin as an integrating context for understanding global environmental issues. Examining the basin through an interdisciplinary environmental lens the class applies social science approaches to environmental problem solving. Students assess the local, regional, national and international scope of Great Lakes environmental issues through lecture, role-play, and field experiences and consider the importance of government action, public policy, ethics, economics, sociology, history, and engineering while applying social science analysis skills such as surveys, interviews, and content analysis to better understand the depth of local environmental problems and their potential solutions. Environmental science majors prepare a proposal for an environmental consulting project.
STSO-510
3 Credits
This course is an upper-level undergraduate seminar that explores how science, technology, society, environment and policy are understood in contemporary and historical contexts. The course brings together a variety of views and readings to offer an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the complex ways in which citizens make and understand the world. (Enrollment in Department of STS/Public Policy)
STSO-710
3 Credits
Examines how federal and international policies are developed to influence research and development, innovation, and the transfer of technology in the United States and other selected nations. Students in the course will apply basic policy skills, concepts, and methods to contemporary science and technology policy topics.

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